Order of the Phoenix II
by M.A. Raie
Summary: Harry Potter goes into his fifth year at Hogwarts knowing less than he did before. Now he has unexpected hurtles to jump and obsticles to overcome. R/R *COMPLETE*
1. Chapter One

Chapter 1 ~ Tom Marvolo Riddle = I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

They fell in love – a man and a woman. The man, Tom Riddle, was a fairly rich Muggle who lived in a manor overlooking the town of Little Hangleton. The woman, whose name is unknown, was a witch (a descendant of Salazar Slytherin) though kept it from Tom. They were married. Right before their first child was born, she told him what she was. Tom, being one of those Muggles who didn't like magic, fled back to the manor and abandoned his wife and unborn child. Soon enough, she gave birth to the child in Little Hangleton, though only lived long enough to give the child a name: Tom Riddle, after his father and Marvolo after his grandfather.

Little Tom was raised in a Muggle orphanage, poor and lonely and knowing nothing about the gifts his mother had given to him. After eleven long years, destiny flew into his window, carried by an owl and sealed in a single envelope – an acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

He had begun his education at Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin. Little did he know that the blood of the creator of the Slytherin house ran through his veins. Through the years, he described himself as "poor, but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student…" However, there was one teacher who didn't seem to like him so much – transfiguration professor Albus Dumbledore.

Tom learned of the Chamber of Secrets built by his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin built the chamber deep in Hogwarts and sealed it so that only his own true heir would be able to unseal the chamber. During the five years of studying about the chamber, he had begun using a new name among his closest friends; an anagram of the foul, common Muggle name from his father, he turned Tom Marvolo Riddle into I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. It was a name that he hoped wizards everywhere would one-day fear to speak when he became the greatest sorcerer in the world. 

After five years of studying about the chamber, he was ready to open it and unleash the monster hidden inside. Like Slytherin, Tom was a Parselmouth, which came in handy because the monster, a basilisk, was a snake. The serpent was released upon the school where several students were petrified and finally, one was killed. 

Seeing that the events he was causing was ruining his plans for staying at Hogwarts over the summer, Tom tricked Headmaster Armando Dippet into believing that Rubeus Hagrid and his giant spider were responsible for the attacks. Tom received a trophy for special services to the school. Professor Dumbledore, who didn't fully believe that Rubeus was responsible and gave him the position of gamekeeper on the grounds, kept an annoyingly close watch on Tom from then on. Realizing that it wasn't safe for him to open the chamber again while he was at school, he preserved his sixteen year old self within the pages of a diary with the hope that he would one day be able to lead another in his footsteps and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work. 

During the summer of his seventh year, Tom M. Riddle seeped the revenge that he had vowed upon his hated Muggle father. Not only did Tom kill his father but his grandparents as well. The Riddles were buried in Little Hangleton Churchyard. Tom returned to Hogwarts to begin his seventh year. He was prefect, Head Boy and received a Medal for Magical Merit. Albus Dumbledore later said of him, "Brilliant. Of course, he was probably the single most brilliant student that Hogwarts had ever seen."

Tom concluded his education and after leaving school, he disappeared for some years to begin his full transformation from Tom Marvolo Riddle into Lord Voldemort. During this time, he traveled everywhere, sank deeply into the Dark Arts and consorted with the very worst witches and wizards. He underwent many dangerous transformations in his search for extreme power and immortality. When he returned, openly calling himself "Lord Voldemort", few realized that he was, underneath it all, Tom Riddle, the boy who was so well liked and accomplished at Hogwarts.

Voldemort began to gather a following. Some of his followers were in it for a share of the power he offered, though more joined because of fear. Voldemort's years of power were marked by disappearances and increasing violence. His loyal followers called themselves "Death Eaters" and were considered by Lord Voldemort as his true family. They all freely used the three Unforgivable Curses and wore a sign, the Dark Mark, which was a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. Their Dark Lord burned the Dark Mark into their left inner forearm. The Death Eaters would send the same sign into the air, comprised of emerald stars blazing in a haze of greenish smoke when they had made a kill. 

Lord Voldemort seemed mightier than any wizard living and had achieved his goal; most of the wizarding world referred to him as "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". Voldemort had been gaining power for eleven years when, on the night of October 31, he went for James and Lilly Potter. He killed James and Lilly died protecting her son, Harry, who was the next intended victim. When Lord Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Wizard of the century, turned Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse into little, one-year-old Harry, it rebounded upon Voldemort, ripping him from his body. Drained of his powers and barely alive, he fled.

Voldemort is believed to have gone further than any other on his quest for immortality. He had conquered death, but was left without a body. He was also powerless because every spell that might help him required the use of a wand. He hid in a forest far from the Aurors he knew would still be searching for him. The only power left to him was the ability to possess the body of another. He waited, expecting his faithful Death Eaters to try to find him and restore him. 

Several years later, Professor Quirrell wondered into the forest in which Voldemort had been hiding. Quirrell, being foolish and extremely gullible, took Voldemort home with him and the two of them devised a plan to take the Philosopher's Stone, created by Nicholas Flamel, as to create a new body for Voldemort. First, they tried to steal it from Gringott's Bank, but vault 713 had been emptied earlier that day under Albus Dumbledore's orders. As they waited for the right time to attempt to steal the stone again, Quirrell drank the blood of unicorns that he slaughtered in the Forbidden Forest. They had tricked Hagrid into telling them how to get past the three-headed dog guarding the Philosopher's Stone and were able to win their way through the enchantments to the Mirror of Erised. There, as Quirrell looked into the mirror, Harry Potter showed up, trying to keep Severus Snape, who he thought was trying to steal the stone, from getting the stone. Harry gained possession of the stone from the mirror, but Quirrell was notable to take it from him because contact with Harry's skin caused Quirrell burning agony. Harry held Quirrell off long enough for Headmaster Dumbledore to arrive. Voldemort fled, leaving Quirrell to die, showing as much mercy to his followers as his enemies. Voldemort had again, been defeated by Harry Potter.

Voldemort returned to his forest in Albania and, there, faced his darkest hour. He was weak as ever and thought it would be too much to expect another foolish wizard to happen along. He had given up hope that his faithful Death Eaters cared what had become of him. While he waited without hope, the diary that he preserved himself in had been in the possession of Lucius Malfoy, one-time Death Eater, who seized the opportunity to slip the diary into a book purchased for young Ginny Weasley at Flourish and Blott's Bookstore. Ginny opened her heart to the diary and through it to Tom Riddle. He became stronger and stronger on a diet of Ginny's deepest fears and her darkest secrets. He was soon more powerful than Ginny and was able to use her, without her being conscious of it, to open the Chamber of Secrets. Through her, Tom learned of Harry Potter. Ginny became frightened and attempted to dispose of the diary. Tom was exuberant to find that it was recovered and opened by the hands of Mr. Potter himself. Tom was amused by the similarities between him and Harry. Soon, Tom was able to lure Harry into the chamber to save Ginny. Assisted by Fawkes, the Sorting Hat and the sword of Godric Gryffindor, Harry killed the basilisk. As he was in the process of killing the serpent, a fang splintered off into his arm. Tom was dismayed when Fawkes' healing tears saved Harry. Harry then took the fang and plunged it into the diary. The venom in the fang burned through the diary and the memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle passed into nothingness. Harry Potter had, again, defeated Voldemort.

Over a year later, Lord Voldemort's spy, Peter Pettigrew was forced out of hiding and, having no where else to go, followed rumors deep into Albania and found Voldemort, though, he did not arrive alone. Peter had stopped at an inn and was seen by Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry. Pettigrew was able to overpower Bertha and brought her to Voldemort, who used a powerful memory charm on her and learned that the Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts that year. More importantly, Death Eater, Bartemius Crouch Jr., had been rescued from Azkaban by his father, though was held from returning to his master by an Imperious Curse and hidden by an invisibility cloak in his father's home. Bertha was then killed. Though he was a poor wizard, Pettigrew (now known as Wormtail) was able to follow Voldemort's instructions and assist him to a rudimentary, weak body with a potion of unicorn blood and snake venom. It gave him almost a human form and the strength to travel while he formulated a plan to return to his old strength and body using an old piece of Dark Magic.

Voldemort had Wormtail carry him first to the Riddle house, where they encountered a Muggle, Frank Bryce, and killed him. Later, they went to the Crouch home, where Crouch Sr. was placed under the Imperious Curse. Wormtail and Barty Jr. captured Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, and ex-Auror and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, and held him under the Imperious Curse to enable Barty Jr. to impersonate him at Hogwarts with the help of Polyjuice Potion.

Barty Jr. was able to involve Harry in the Triwizard Tournament and attempted to assist him to win the Triwizard cup, which he had turned into a Portkey and it delivered Harry and Cedric Diggory to the churchyard in Little Hangleton and into the power of Lord Voldemort. Using his old piece of Dark Magic, a potion requiring his father's bone, flesh given by a servant and blood from a foe, Lord Voldemort was able to rise again, more powerful than he had fallen. Though he could have used the blood of any foe, Voldemort wanted Harry Potter. He believed that the lingering protection his mother once gave him would reside in his veins, too. His return summoned the Death Eaters, still united under the Dark Mark and he challenged them for not coming to his aid for thirteen years. Afterwards, Voldemort challenged Harry to a wizard's duel, returning his wand to him, so there would be no doubt which one of them was stronger. Harry was able to defy then evade Voldemort's spells. When the wands, which were brothers, each containing a phoenix tail feather from Fawkes, were forced to do battle, a rare effect occurred, a Priori Incantatem. The Reverse Spell effect forced the shadows of Cedric, Frank, Bertha, and, finally, James and Lilly Potter from Voldemort's wand. The shadows whispered encouragement to Harry, unheard by Voldemort, whose fear was becoming evident as his victims surrounded him. On a prearranged signal, they closed in on Voldemort as Harry broke the golden thread of light that held the wands together. Harry dashed through the churchyard and evaded the Death Eaters to retrieve the Triwizard Cup Portkey and Cedric's body and escaped to Hogwarts. Though Voldemort had achieved his most important objectives, returning to a physical body and the return of his Death Eaters, Harry Potter had once again thwarted his revenge.

Voldemort had finally broken free of the spirits surrounding him and was running in the direction of the uproars of his Death Eaters.

"Stand aside," Voldemort screeched, "He is mine to kill! Do not touch the boy! Let me at him!"

"It is too late, my Lord," Lucius Malfoy explained, "He has escaped back to Hogwarts with the body of the other boy."

Voldemort was angry, but felt little anguish. He knew that he had been in worse situations and saw this as an opportunity to build up his strength and increase his chances of getting Potter the next time he encountered him. Voldemort turned his attention to the Riddle House, sitting atop a hill overlooking the churchyard.

"Come," he commanded at once, "We shall take residence in the manor and plan our next actions. I am hoping that it will be our next and last attempt to get the boy – that is, if we plan carefully."

Wormtail walked at his master's side and the Death Eaters followed. Once they reached the manor, Wormtail opened the door for him, being careful not to slip up, followed him closely up the stairs and into the third floor study. The Death Eaters piled in and sat around the huge, maple wood table. Voldemort sat at the head of this table and thought about his first words to begin business. 

"While staying here," Lord Voldemort hissed, "certain precautions should be taken. First, if Dumbledore and his little group come looking for us, we mustn't be able to be seen. That is why one of us hide us in this house and another one must be our secret keeper."

In an instant, Lucius stood, "Allow me to redeem your trust and assure you that my intentions to you are more faithful than ever before, my Lord, by making me secret keeper."

Lord Voldemort walked over to Malfoy and examined him carefully. After a moment, Voldemort nodded.

"Alright, Lucius. However, if you screw up, you will end up like the family that lived here long ago."

Lucius' facial expression failed to change, "Do not worry, my Lord. I will keep this secret guarded like so many others you have entrusted within me."

"Mcnair," Voldemort exclaimed suddenly, "do you believe that you are capable of casting ---"

Before Voldemort could finish his sentence, the front door of the Riddle house slammed downstairs.

"Lord, we must hide you – protect you," Nott exclaimed, "It might be Dumbledore. You aren't ready to fight him yet…"

"Don't be so foolish, Nott," Voldemort hissed, "He would not come for me so quickly. Lucius, go down and see who our visitor is."

Malfoy nodded and climbed down the stairs. He unsheathed his wand, ready to petrify anything that he saw as a danger to his master. He heard muffled noises coming from the common room when he reached the second floor. He walked lightly in that direction and looked into the room. Inside, there was a hooded figure, its back turned to Malfoy, looking through the shelves of books on the opposite wall.

"Turn around and reveal yourself," Lucius ordered, "and no funny business. There is a want pointed at you and I am ready to execute a spell on the turn of a dial."

"You wouldn't kill a fellow Death Eater, now would you, Lucius," a deep, dark voice asked as the figure it came from turned around, dropped its hood and took off its mask.

"You," Lucius spat, "What makes you think you can come back here after your loyalties towards your master were betrayed to the lover of mudbloods and Muggles?"

Severus looked straight at Lucius, "Don't be obscured, Lucius. I am here, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are…though, for what?"

"What do you mean 'for what'? I am here to serve my master. He is back – I have come to rejoice."

Lucius looked into Severus' black eyes, "Why did you not come when you were called?"

"I was in a rather tight spot with Dumbledore. You also know that one cannot apparate or dissapparate on Hogwarts grounds. Once Dumbledore's back was turned, I came as quickly as I could."

Lucius' eyes narrowed as he sighed, "Come, we are in the third floor study. I am sure our master will be…well, lets just hope he sees you more faithful than he did about an hour ago."

Lucius turned to lead Severus up to Lord Voldemort as Severus replaced his mask and hood.  


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter 2 ~ To the Burrow Once Again

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys were sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor Table. Harry and Hermione were waiting for the carriages to take them to the train while the Weasleys were waiting for their mother to get out of a talk with Dumbledore. The Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students had already left for their schools. The Great Hall was deserted and quiet – much how Harry preferred it to be.

"Harry, are you going to be alright," Hermione asked him.

Harry had his head lain on the table, covered partially by his hands, "I don't know yet," his deep voice broke through heavy and muffled, "I have caused so many bad things…why couldn't I have just died the first time Voldemort tried to kill me? Why?"

"Don't say that, Harry," Ron exclaimed, "You have done the impossible. I think it is time to step aside and allow Dumbledore to take over from here. You have done the best you could."

Harry considered for a moment listening to Ron about stepping aside and looked up at his best friend, "I have done the best I could? Do you think that allowing Voldemort to come back and killing Cedric is doing the best I can against evil? Yes, I am bloody brilliant when it comes to things like that!"

Ron opened his mouth to say something when Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore appeared. They walked up to the group of kids.

"Harry, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley began, "Headmaster Dumbledore and I have been talking and I have convinced him to allow the two of you to stay at the Burrow over the summer, as long as it is alright with your parents and guardians."

Harry's face brightened up for the first time since he had been face to face with Voldemort about five hours ago. Hermione smiled at Harry as he nodded.

"Let me send an owl to the Dursleys," Harry replied.

"Allow me to do the same to my parents," Hermione said, "I am sure they will have no problem with it."

Mrs. Weasley's chubby face lit up and her mouth curved into a warm, gentle smile, "I am so delighted that you have accepted my offer. It is always such a pleasure to have the two of you around!"

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied.

"Yes, thank you," Hermione added, "You have no idea how much we enjoy being invited to your home, especially since we are only children…for the most part."

Harry and Hermione left to send letters to their relatives and got ready for their trip back to the Burrow again.

  


"Here we are," Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she and the seven kids walked into the Burrow, "Well, I dare say – this house feels much more lively with Harry and Hermione here. Why don't you all go upstairs? Dinner will be ready when Arthur and Percy get home."

The children did as was told. Harry followed Ron to the familiar room, covered in Chudley Cannon Quidditch team posters, and put his stuff on one of the beds. With a long sigh, he looked at Ron.

"Harry, everything is going to be alright," Ron assured him, "You are going to love this summer! You can play Quidditch whenever you'd like, we can play Wizard's Chess and help each other with our summer work."

Harry smiled, "When things are horrible, you look at the good side of things. When things are good, you look at the bad side of things…I just don't get you, Ron."

"What is there to get," Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, "At least we wont have any Snape to worry about."

"That's the spirit," Ron exclaimed, slapping him on the back, "Lets go see what Fred and George are up to."

Harry and Ron walked across the hall. As they reached the closed door of Fred and George's bedroom, pops, fizzes and other sound effects could be heard coming from the inside. 

"Sounds like Fred and George haven't been wasting any time," Ron said.

Harry knocked on the door, "Fred? George? It's Harry. May Ron and I come in?"

"Of course," George yelled.

"Just the two guys we were hoping to see," Fred said as Harry and Ron entered the room, "We have just invented a new Wizard Wheeze that we would like your approval of."

Ron's eyes grew wide and scared, "Oh, no. Not this again. Last summer, I was turned into a canary at least one hundred times."

"Oh, don't worry. There are guaranteed to be some of the best Wizard Wheezes known to the world," George exclaimed.

"George and I have been brainstorming all year and waiting to come back and slave over the cauldron," Fred added, "However, there is too much work for two people to handle over the summer so – we need some partners. What do you guys say to 'Three Weasleys and a Potter – the Wizard Wheezes of the Century'?"

Harry smiled, "You don't have to put my name in there but I would love to help."

"Too late, Harry. Our minds are made up," George informed him, "Are you in, Ron?"

"Sure," he replied, happy that he was finally being accepted by his older brothers, "I'll join."

Fred smiled, "Great. This business will definitely be booming this year. Mum wont find out about this again ---"

"As long as you keep your room clean. That is how she found out about them in the first place," Ron pointed out.

George rubbed his chin, "You have a point there, Ron. That can be part of your job – to keep mum from suspecting things."

"This business will be split up evenly – 25% between all of us," Fred explained, "Everyone will get credit for everything."

Harry smiled and looked around at everything that the twins use to make their pranks.

"You guys are pretty low on some of these ingredients," he observed.

"Yeah, we know," George said, "Mum tried to throw a lot of our stuff away so that we couldn't make anymore pranks. We never made enough money to buy more supplies."

"Well, hey," Harry began, "I have those Galleons that I won from the Triwizard Tournament. We can use some of those to get supplies."

"No, don't worry about it, Harry," Fred said, "We can use what we have."

"Nonsense! This is a business – it is mine as much as it is yours and I am going to use my Tournament money to help my colleagues," Harry insisted.

"Alright, but how are we going to get to Diagon Alley," Ron asked, "Mum wont take us unless she knows exactly what we are going to do."

"Mum doesn't have to take us, Ron," George said, "We have floo powder and a fireplace. Do the math."

"Wouldn't mum notice if we left in the middle of the day," Ron asked.

Fred slapped Ron in the back of the head, "Dude, we go at night!"

"Are any of the shops open at night," Harry asked.

"Yeah, but only if you know where to look."

Ron looked at his brother with a look of confusion on his face and Harry spoke up.

"Knockturn Alley?"

"Bingo."

"Are you bloody well out of your mind," Ron exclaimed, "Mum would have more than your heads if she found out that you two have been down in Knockturn Alley!"

"She won't find out if no one opens their big mouth," Fred said, looking at Ron.

"Don't look at me," he exclaimed, "I am not going to say anything!"

"Good," George replied and pulled a second cauldron out from the closet, "We have been working on a new toy. This is a sample of it."

He picked up a small, golden bouncy ball that was to resemble a Snitch. It had the Gryffindor coat of arms on it and "Harry Potter" stamped across the front.

"This," George began, "is a ball with a big mouth. Allow me to demonstrate."

He dropped the ball onto the ground. Immediately when it hit, a voice came out singing:

"Harry Potter is our man,

"If he can't do it, nobody can!

"He'll fly circles around the Pitch,

"He will make Malfoy his bitch!"

Harry smiled, "Bloody hell! That is going to get us in loads of trouble!"

"That, my dear Potter, is what we Weasleys live for."

George smiled and Harry replied, "What else does it say?"

The four of them bounced the ball around for a while, listening as it cheered for Harry and then proceeded to insult Malfoy. After a while, Fred got back down to business.

"What we have to do now is think of a flashier design, better insults and we have to create one for each team member…which reminds me…we don't have a Keeper anymore."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I am a bit worried about that myself. I hope that our new Keeper, whoever they may be, can live up to what Oliver did with our team."

The other three boys nodded as they heard the front door downstairs slam. Mr. Weasley and Percy had just arrived home. They both had had a long day at the Ministry and the expressions on both of their faces showed it. Six kids that had previously been chilling out upstairs had descended to the ground floor to greet the two arrivies.

"Daddy," Ginny yelled, running up to her father and flinging herself at him.

"Ginny, it is so good to see you again! How was your third year at Hogwarts? Good, I trust. Don't worry we'll talk all about it at dinner. Fred, George, Ron, how are my sons?"

"Fine, dad," Ron replied.

"Ditto," the twins answered in unison.

"Hermione, I am glad to see you again," Mr. Weasley said, "I take it you and Mr. Potter are back for the summer. It is so wonderful to have you. We are honored."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione replied politely, "I love being here."

"Harry," Arthur exclaimed, "How was the tournament? I want to hear all about the third task later. Good evening, Molly, dear. I am ---"

Mr. Weasley stopped abruptly as he caught sight of the look on his wife's face.

"Arthur, I need to speak to you in our room…now."

The two of them trudged upstairs while a group of eyes followed them. Percy spoke immediately.

"Fred and George, what have you don't this time? It must have been terrible to have made mum call dad upstairs for a chat ---"

"As a matter of fact, Percy," Fred began, "we didn't do anything."

"Yeah," George chimed in, "and as a matter of another fact, we have no idea what mum is mad about."

"What are we standing here for, then," Ginny asked and ran up the stairs as quickly and as quietly as she could.

Her brothers and friends followed. They gathered close to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom door, but through all of the bustling, they could only make out parts of the conversation.

"…you absolutely…"

"Arthur, I…in my…"

"Dumbledore…you…but that must…"

"Yes, that…why…too…"

Harry sighed, "This is no use. With seven people gathered around this door, moving and fighting, we can't hear anything."

No one listened to Harry, who finally retired to the common room. He sat on the couch and thought about the future and what was to come.

  


It was a few weeks later and Harry, Ron, Fred and George were up to what they had been up to since the beginning of the summer – creating Wizard Wheezes. Even with all of the noises coming from the room, the four boys managed to keep Mrs. Weasley at bay.

The time was almost six thirty and Mrs. Weasley was getting worried. Mr. Weasley and Percy were supposed to have been home over an hour ago and she didn't know how much longer she could continue to cook the dinner before it burned. Finally, she just called the kids to the table and served them their dinner.

It was after seven when Mr. Weasley and Percy finally walked in.

"You wouldn't believe what has been happening at the Ministry," Percy exclaimed as he hugged his mother, "We have had ten workers quit today and Fudge has been having to pay people to stay."

"Why in the world would people be leaving," Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Voldemort is back, of course," Mr. Weasley exclaimed, "They are scared because they know that Malfoy is a Death Eater ---"

"Arthur, I don't want you getting into and argument with that man and you mentioning his loyalties to Voldemort. Imagine what it could do to us…"

Mr. Weasley swallowed hard and nervously answered, "Yes, dear."

"Well, the good news is," Percy began as he grabbed for a roll, "that Fudge doubled both mine and father's pay."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes began to glow, "Is this true, Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley nodded, "I was going to tell you later, as a surprise…"

Percy hunched over his dinner. Ron, who was standing at the landing of the stairs beside Harry, smiled.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3 ~ No one Messes with my Family

Harry and Ron were awoken early the next morning by a deep exclamation by Percy from downstairs.

"Dad! Dad, come quick!"

Ron and Harry hopped out of bed and ran downstairs. On their way down, they met with Hermione.

"What is going on," she asked.

"That is what we are trying to figure out," Ron exclaimed.

They ran downstairs. Fred and George were already down there, reading a piece of parchment that was held in Percy's hand.

"It is written in mother's handwriting…no doubt she wrote it at his command," George whispered as Ron, Harry and Hermione approached, "Look how sketchy and jolted her writing looks."

Fred took a seat in a nearby chair. Harry had never seen the Weasley twins look so solemn. Something, he thought, must be seriously wrong. Mr. Weasley bustled in, pulling on his last shoe.

"Percy, you have woken everyone up. What is the matter with you?"

It was obvious by the tone of his voice that Mr. Weasley was worried about something. He snatched the roll of parchment out of Percy's hand and began to read. The three who had just arrived watched in horror as he lowered himself into a nearby chair and started to cry.

"Dad, what is the matter," Ron asked with a quivering voice as he walked over to his father.

The roll of parchment dropped from Mr. Weasley's limp hand and Ron picked it up and began reading. He didn't finish with the statement written on the page before he ran upstairs, thrusting the parchment into Harry's hands. It read:

_Well, Arthur. You have chosen to mess with one of my Death Eaters. When you mess with my family, you mess with me as well. I don't take kindly to being messed with and you will pay dearly for your decision. I have your beloved wife in my possession. If I were you, Mr. Weasley, I would watch where I step from now on…if you are a good little mudblood lover, I may return Molly in one piece…_

_Lord Voldemort_

The pit of Harry's stomach dropped into his knees. He figured that Mr. Weasley had gotten into a fight with Lucius Malfoy. Hermione burst into tears.

"Not…Mrs. Weasley," she sobbed.

After a moment, Mr. Weasley gained control of himself.

"Where is Ginny," he asked.

"Still asleep," George answered dully.

"Whatever happens, Ginny cannot find out about this yet."

"What will we tell her when she finds mum gone," Fred asked.

"Nothing," Mr. Weasley answered, "Act like everything is normal. Say she went to visit a sick neighbor or something. I will find a way to break the news to her when Percy and I get home tonight."

Percy followed his father out the door and Harry went upstairs to Ron.

"What was dad saying before he left," he asked, wiping tears from his cheeks.

"To tell Ginny that your mum went to visit a sick neighbor."

"I wish that were all it was."

Harry sat on the bed across from Ron, "I am not stepping aside. Not this time. Voldemort has messed with my family. No one messes with Harry Potter's family."

"Harry…"

"No, Ron. I am going after him. I don't know when or how, but I will before he does anything to our mum."

  


Everybody in the Weasley house drifted off into an uneasy sleep early that night. During the day, no Wizard Wheezes were made, Hermione cried in a room, away from Ginny and Ginny was confused about why everyone looked so sad. The letter that had been found that morning was in the twins' possession, hidden in the bureau in their room. Mr. Weasley and Percy managed to get home early, despite all of the chaos at the Ministry. Mr. Weasley took Ginny up to her room and told her about what really happened to Mrs. Weasley. She spent the rest of the night in shock, either crying hysterically or just staring blankly off into space.

Now, the house was asleep. The atmosphere was still heavy with pain and Harry, who lay awake at three that morning, could feel it. He had finally thought up a plan to rescue Mrs. Weasley.

Quietly, he rolled out of bed, got dressed (in Muggle clothing), grabbed a bag of Galleons and counted out fifty of them. He put them inside a leather bag and attached it to his belt. He grabbed a book bag from out of his trunk and stuffed his invisibility cloak and wand inside of it. On a piece of parchment that Harry found on Ron's desk, he scribbled a note:

_Ron,_

_I have been thinking for several hours now about where your mother may be and I think that I have a fairly good idea where she may be. I am going after her. If I do not return, use the 950 Galleons in the pouch wisely and invent great things._

_Live well,_

_Harry_  

He put the note on the bedside table and walked out of the room. As Harry walked slowly down the stairs, he listened. He never wanted to forget how the house sounded when it was completely still – the stillness was something never heard. Not even the ghoul in the attic made noise tonight. Finally, he reached the common room. The fireplace sat fifteen feet away and a bucket of floo powder was hung on one of the corners. Harry stepped forward lightly, making sure that there wasn't a creek made. He was a few steps from the fireplace when a small voice came from behind him.

"What are you doing, Harry?"

Harry jumped and turned towards the voice that broke through the heavy silence. A small figure with blazing red hair that could be seen through the darkness was sitting, curled up at one end of the couch.

"I am going to get your mother back, Ginny."

Harry could see Ginny's eyes grow wide, "Do you know where she is?"

"No, not for sure," Harry whispered, walking towards the couch and taking a seat; the cushions beneath him gave way to his weight, "but I know where to begin looking."

Ginny was silent for a moment and then suddenly flung her arms around Harry, "Please be careful!"

She began sobbing into his shoulder and he held her.

"Please don't cry," he begged, "I will be back in no time – I promise you. I will be back with your mum and we will both be safe and sound."

Ginny cried harder and Harry lifted her head, holding her chin in his hand.

"Listen to me, Ginny – shhh, shhh, listen. Everything's going to be all right. I promise."

Harry brushed Ginny's hair out of her eyes. Out of nowhere, Ginny lunged forward and kissed Harry on the cheek. She pulled away quickly, embarrassed about what she had done.

"I – I am sorry…"

"Its okay," he replied and returned the kiss, "I love you, sis. Be good for your brothers. I will not fail you."

With that, Harry stood, took a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"Whatever you do, do not follow me and do not tell anyone where I have gone, do you understand," Harry asked sternly.

Ginny nodded, "Yes, Harry."

Harry smiled and dropped the floo powder and exclaimed, "Diagon Alley!"

The familiar spinning motion took over Harry's body and he closed his eyes. He stopped suddenly and dropped out in Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. Once he regained his balance, he looked around. The shopkeeper seemed surprised to see Harry pop out of the fireplace. 

"Is that young Mr. Potter," he asked, "What are you doing here at four in the morning?"

"Um…" Harry stuttered, "Just going out for a walk. I couldn't sleep."

"Well, welcome," the shopkeeper replied.

"Thanks," Harry said, "I'll be coming back through here and will buy when I come back."

 The shopkeeper nodded and Harry stepped out onto Diagon Alley. He headed towards Gringotts and walked in. The bank was pretty much deserted except for one or two goblins, working behind their desks. Harry walked up to the desk, counted out twenty-five Galleons and pushed them towards the goblin.

"Um…excuse me," Harry muttered.

"Yes," the goblin said, looking up from his work.

"May I get these Galleons in Muggle money?"

The goblin nodded, took the Galleons and came back with a sack of Muggle money.

"Four hundred and twenty five pounds," the goblin said, handing him the sack.

"Thanks," Harry replied and left.

He walked down to the end of the alley and into the Leaky Cauldron. He went up to the bar and had a seat.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Potter," the tavern keeper, Tom, exclaimed, "what can I get for you?"

"Do you have Butterbeer by any chance," Harry asked.

"Why, of course we have Butterbeer!"

Tom went to get the drink as Harry pulled out a menu and looked around. Some wizards had come in to get breakfast before work. There was a wizard asleep in a dark corner that look like he had been hexed. His hair was a flaming pink color and his hands had been transformed into fish fins.

"Here you are, Mr. Potter," Tom said, setting a huge mug of Butterbeer in front of him, "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Er…" Harry looked down at the menu, "Blueberry pancakes and sausage."

Tom went to prepare the food. While he waited, Harry pulled out a Galleon and began to play with it. He had breakfast quietly, left the Galleon that he was playing with on the bar and left the Leaky Cauldron.

Outside the doors of the pub was Muggle London – Charing Cross Road, to be exact. The street was lined with Muggle shops, restaurants and a cinema. The street was deserted except for one or two Muggles. They paid no attention to Harry, who walked up the street, looking into all of the windows. It was almost five and a couple of the shops were opening. Harry decided to look into some of them. Harry put the bag of Galleons in his backpack and pushed open the door of a small clothing store and a bell at the top of it jingled, signaling to the storekeeper that someone had entered.

She saw Harry and the expression on her face was a confused one, "Yes? May I help you?"

Harry looked at the over-sized, stained shirt and the pants with holes at the knees that he was wearing and said, "Do you carry Dickies and Polo?"

"Yes," she replied, "Right this way."

He followed her to a section of the store, near the back, where he saw racks of fine clothes for teenage boys like himself. He picked out three pairs of pants and a couple of Polo shirts. He tried on a pair of khaki Dickies and a forest green Polo shirt and looked at himself in the mirror. Never before had he looked this good. The clothes that were passed down to him by Dudley were always stained, faded and way too big. He now looked like a new man. The shirt was just the right size and showed his broad shoulders and the short sleeves showed most of his muscular arms. No doubt the Quidditch he had been playing over the summer contributed to his build. His chest was muscular for a boy his age and his waist was small. Harry looked at himself from all angles in the mirror and finally decided what he wanted to do.

"I would like a few more pairs of these Dickies – one in khaki, one in blue and two in black and four Polo shirts, two black, two navy blue and this outfit that I am wearing now."

"So, five pairs of Dickies and five shirts?"

"That is correct. Oh, and if it isn't any trouble, may I wear this out?"

The saleswoman nodded and led Harry to the counter to ring up his stuff. She cut the tags off of Harry's clothes.

"Do you play any sports," she asked.

"Yes," he answered, "Why?"

"You are very well built," she replied, blushing slightly, "I like your scar, too."

"Er…thanks," Harry said, rubbing his scar, "How much do I owe you?"

"Ninety five pounds," she informed him.

Harry paid and was about to leave with his bag when she said, "What do you want me to do with these clothes?"

"Burn them," Harry ordered without a moment of thought.

She grinned and Harry walked back onto Charing Cross. He put the bag that he had just walked out of the store with in his backpack and walked towards the train station.

It was about six fifteen when he reached the station and looked around for the schedules. He found what he was looking for and brought a ticket. The train was going to leave at six forty five, so Harry had a while to wait. Several Muggles were rushing around, going to work and going to school. They were oblivious to their surroundings, just caring about where they were off to. Harry was just there, waiting for things to happen. While he waited, he observed the things around him – something that Muggles rarely tended to do. They always seemed too busy or too oblivious. Harry knew that one thing was for sure – he was glad that he was what he was.

Finally, it was time for the young hero to catch the train. He got on, found a seat and looked out the window. The scenery sped by so quickly that is was useless to try and enjoy it. Harry soon got bored and decided to explore the train.

As he was walking down the isle, he nearly ran head first into a girl who was coming out of her compartment. She was about an inch shorter than he was and had long, black, waist length hair and green eyes. She looked at Harry and smiled.

"Sorry," she said in a sweet voice.

Harry shook his head, "No, it was my fault. I should have been watching where I was going. After you."

She walked ahead and Harry wasn't far behind. He was slightly entranced by this girl – he believed she was beautiful beyond words. 

"I could never get with her," Harry whispered to himself, "She is a Muggle after all."

After a few minutes, the train slowed to a stop. Harry climbed off of the train. A few doors down, he saw the girl get off with her parents and he sighed, a bit dismayed by his loss. Nevertheless, he had to know where he was; he needed to know how to get to Mrs. Weasley. He walked to the front of the station and stood at a bus stop, waiting for the bus that would take him to where he was going. Soon, a huge, red double-decker bus drove up and Harry got on. He climbed to the top and sat there since it was such a beautiful day. The sun had finally risen and was an extremely bright day – a day rarely seen due to the usual weather conditions. It wasn't long before Harry saw what he had come to see.

"Next stop, Godric's Hollow. All who wish to unload prepare to do so."

Harry walked to the lower story of and the bus came to a halt in front of a bus stop sign. He put the appropriate amount of money in the collector and stepped off the bus. As it drove quickly away from him, Harry looked at the big sign located at the entrance to the community. It said "Godric's Hollow" in huge, Old English letters. There was a barrier blocking cars from getting in without the guard knowing and a booth where the guard sat. Harry brushed his hair into his eyes, making sure that his scar was concealed and walked up to the booth.

"Yes," the attendee asked.

"Can you direct me to the house where the Potter family used to live," Harry asked.

"The guard looked confused, "How long ago was this, son?"

"Almost fifteen years."

The guard sighed and got onto his radio, "GH to HQ…GH to HQ, I need some information."

"We read you, GH," a man's voice came out of the radio and answered, "Proceed."

"There is a boy here looking for the house that a Potter family lived in about fifteen years ago."

"We have had several Potter families live in Godric's Hollow. Is there anything else that this boy may be able to tell you?"

The guard looked down at Harry and he sighed.

"On November first, 1990, the house was found practically destroyed," Harry replied, softly, but surely.

"Did you get that, HQ," the guard asked, talking into the radio.

"Yeah, I know what house you are talking about."

He gave directions and Harry thanked him."

"Hey, kid," the guard began, "That is a pretty long walk. Do you want a lift?"

Harry looked at the guard and the car that he was pointing to, "No, thanks. I think I can handle the walk."

The guard shrugged and Harry was on his way. He followed the directions given to him to the letter, checking and double-checking himself. The guard was right – it was a long walk. Harry's determination never wavered, however. He walked until finally, he spotted the house.

"I wonder if it was rebuilt the way it stood before it had been destroyed," Harry whispered to himself as he looked up at the towering building.

The house was truly magnificent. It was no doubt bigger then the Dursleys' place and was very old fashioned. It was built of brick and a ten-foot wooden fence surrounded the property.

"The people that live here now must have children," Harry observed, "If mum and dad were still alive, would I be living here? Would I have little brothers and sisters that attended Hogwarts, like me," he sighed and bowed his head, "Harry, its no use trying to imagine things like that. It will just make you hurt more than you already do."

Harry sat on the sidewalk, across from the house he came to see and stared at it for some time, thinking. He was never able to think much – never had time to himself. Though, now, he sat for hours, thinking…wondering…imagining and what if-ing. Finally, he decided to move on. He found his way out of Godric's Hollow and caught the first bus that came by. Instead of climbing to the top, Harry found an empty seat in the very back and plopped down in it.

"A young man like you shouldn't be adventuring off alone."

Harry looked up to see the woman who had interrupted his thoughts. 

"Who said I was alone," Harry replied.

"No one," she answered, "You look very alone, however."

Harry studied the woman. She was young – around twenty-seven or so – and had blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. 

"Yes, well, you don't look like you have much of a mob following you around, either," Harry shot back.

The woman laughed, "No, I don't, do I? Well, since we are both alone, why don't we travel together?"

"Because I have things to do."

"Oh, like what?"

Harry scowled at this woman, "My mother has been kidnapped by a big, bad guy and now I have to find him and Avada Kedavra his ass back to where he came from."

"Don't you mean 'abracadabra'?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Harry answered, rolling his eyes.

"We are stopping soon in downtown London," the driver announced, "Food, shopping and fun for everyone!"

"I would so very much stay and chat," Harry began sarcastically, looking for a quick get away, "but this is my stop."

Harry began getting off the bus and the woman followed. Harry started walking quickly and ducked into an ice cream parlor. Before the woman saw him, he slid into a booth and slouched down. A waitress came up and asked him what he wanted.

"Waffle cone with two scoops of bubblegum ice cream," Harry answered quietly and the waitress left.

"Like I said – you shouldn't be wandering off alone, Mr. potter."

Harry turned around. In the booth behind him was the lady that he was trying to get away from. 

"What do you want from me," Harry asked her.

"I want you to realize what kind of danger you could be in right now," she responded, "There are Death Eaters all over London now, and more are being summoned and recruited as we speak. Voldemort is getting stronger and he cannot wait to have you in his grasp."

"Listen to me," Harry ordered suddenly raising his voice, "I am tired of people looking after me like I am some child! I can fend for myself, do you understand? Your warnings are not going to scare me into hiding! I do not fear Voldemort, okay?"

The woman blinked, "I am sorry that you are so naive. Obviously, you have never truly felt Voldemort's wrath like many others have had."

Harry grew extremely offended and didn't fail to show it, "Do not speak of things you know not of! I lost the parents that I never had the chance to talk to, I was sent to live with Muggle relatives that couldn't care less about me and I have faced Voldemort myself three times in the past four years, the last time he came back to power and a friend of mine lost his life, right before my eyes! I have felt Voldemort's wrath much more strongly than anyone else."

The waitress came back with Harry's order. He paid for it and excused himself as the lady stared after him blankly. Harry walked around, waiting for nightfall. It came slowly for him. Finally, when it did arrive, he was sitting in a café having dinner. He pondered upon the events of the afternoon and questioned what made him blow up at the lady he met on the bus. He also planned his actions for the rescue of Mrs. Weasley, but they couldn't be accurate seeing that any little event could change them. After he paid for his dinner, he changed into black clothes and caught a bus that would take him to his final destination.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter 4 ~ The Rescue

"Next stop – Little Hangleton Churchyard," the driver announced as the bus came to a steady stop. 

Harry got off and looked up at the tall, black iron gates of the cemetery. The dark, creepy atmosphere of the place sent chills down his spine. The mere memory of being there only two months ago haunted him. After one deep breath, Harry walked in. The ground was black and covered in mist. Headstones jetted up from the ground at all angles. They were all different shapes and sizes, but made from the same, cold concrete. Harry pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos." The light from his wand extended outward and he was able to read some of the things on most of the headstones. Harry crept farther into the graveyard. He felt his feet begin to grow heavy and his book bag didn't seem to want to stay on the shoulder it was carelessly slung over. He looked up ahead and saw the black shape of the manor, propped up on a hill in the distance. With every step, the house grew larger, grander and more detailed. Lights could be seen in the windows of the upper stories – it flickered as though it were of candlelight.

"Nox," Harry whispered and the light at the end of his wand went out. 

He snuck closer to the house in a stealthy manner. He stood up against the house and allowed the book bag he was carrying fall to the ground. He pulled out the invisibility cloak and threw it over his body. He figured that it would be easier to stay out of the Death Eaters' paths if he left his book bag where it sat.

Harry began to walk around the perimeter of the manor, careful to make sure that he didn't make any noise. He caught a group of Death Eaters talking by the back door. The French doors had been left wide open. Harry ducked in, but stood by them and listened to what the Death Eaters were talking about.

"Our Lord is an ingenious man," one of then said quietly and mysteriously; Harry did not recognize his voice and guessed that he was a new recruit that the lady was speaking of earlier, "Malfoy and I apparated and took Mrs. Weasley because Mr. Weasley stepped on Malfoy's toes. Our Lord has a better use for her – to lure the Potter boy here. He praised us endlessly for our great plan, but he is the real genius. Our Lord has ordered Malfoy and I to help put up guards around the manor and grounds. The boy does not know how to apparate, so he would not be able to sneak in that way. He will probably walk right up to the property and sacrifice himself for the well-being of Mrs. Weasley. We will take him up to our Lord and let him do with Potter what he wishes. However, my direct orders from our Lord is not to harm Potter in any way – he must be conscience and at his full strength. Our Lord does not want Potter to be tampered with in any way."

Harry listened as this Death Eater talked of him as though he were a toy. This went on for a few minutes as the other Death Eaters discussed plans with the leader – but this didn't apply to Harry. He was already inside. 

"Just walk around the grounds and the graveyard," the leader ordered, "Capture Potter if you see him and bring him back here. No spells are to be cast on him. I am expecting that he will come willingly."

Harry managed to chortle under his breath and walked away. The dust that covered the floor a few months earlier had been lifted and the floor was bare and exposed. Harry was careful not to make the slightest noise as he crossed the hardwood floor. He pushed himself close to the wall, in the shadows. Finally, he came to a carpeted staircase that would take Harry up to the first floor. Slowly, he worked his way up the steps, taking his time, observing his surroundings and, on top of it all, keeping quiet. As he came closer to the landing, he heard several whispering voices. He followed the voices and came to a room where several Death Eaters were talking and meeting.

"Are you sure that we should be expecting Potter this early? It has been less than two days since we captured Mrs. Weasley."

Harry listened intently. He had heard this voice before – at Voldemort's rebirthing. Avery's voice was coming from behind the mask.

"Of course we should," exclaimed the voice of another Death Eater, who Harry recognized to be Malfoy's, "We should expect him at all times! Do not let your guard down!"

"Do you believe that he will get into the house without any of the Death Eaters seeing?"

Malfoy advanced on Avery, "I am giving you orders directly from our Lord's lips and you dare question them, Avery?"

Avery recoiled, "I apologize, Malfoy. I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

Malfoy backed off of the scared Death Eater, "I wouldn't do this if the order hadn't come straight from our Lord's lips, but Avery, you have the duty of guarding Mrs. Weasley in the third floor study."

"Where is our Lord?"

"He is in the bedroom across the hall from the study, resting and collecting his energy for when the time comes when he has to fight Potter."

Avery nodded under the cloak and was dismissed. Harry followed him up the stairs, careful to be in time with his steps and peeked into the bedroom where Lord Voldemort rested before quickly ducking into the study behind Avery. The old grandfather clock downstairs struck nine as Avery pulled a chair out from under the oak wood table and sat it across from Mrs. Weasley, who Harry had seen for the first time. Harry snuck into a corner, between two bookshelves and stood, watching and listening.

"Your little hero should be here soon enough, Mrs. Weasley," Avery said, running his hand along her cheek.

She tried to say something, but the gag in her mouth restrained her from doing so. Avery laughed at her attempts to escape from her bounds. She was tied securely to the chair, however, and it was impossible for her to get free.

"Silly woman. You can't try to prevent what is about to happen to your poor Harry Potter. Voldemort is stronger now – he will finish Potter off in no time at all."

Mrs. Weasley struggled with disagreement, which amused Avery and caused him to laugh. He backed his chair away from her, closer to the table and sat, watching the room and making sure nothing happened. Both the guard and his prisoner were unaware that a third body occupied the room – the hero, who sat only fifteen feet away and was eager to strike. However, Harry waited. Sooner, in this case, was not better. He must take precaution and make sure that everything was going to go correctly.

About an hour after Avery set up post, another Death Eater walked into the room. Harry, who was nearly asleep, sat up quickly and waited for what this newcomer had to say.

"Good news, Avery," the Death Eater, who was female by the sound of the voice, declared, "We have Potter. He put up a small fight, but was no match for the ones who caught him."

Harry's eyes widened under the invisibility cloak. Mrs. Weasley began to scream, though the gag muffled most of the sound.

Avery smiled, "That is good news, my dear."

"Care to come watch the show with me?"

Avery escorted his colleague out of the room and shut the study door quickly. Harry didn't know what was going on exactly, but he knew that he had to work quickly with Mrs. Weasley. He threw the invisibility cloak from his shoulders and ran up to Mrs. Weasley. Her eyes grew large at the sight of him. She tried to speak, but Harry hushed her quickly.

"Mrs. Weasley," he whispered, "I have to work quickly, so you need to cooperate and don't argue."

He pulled a Swiss Army Knife from his pocket and began to cut through the ropes binding Mrs. Weasley to the chair.

"Apparate out of here. Apparate home. Do not stay here, whatever you do."

"The Death Eater said that they had you," Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "If you are here, though, who is with Voldemort? I mean, you are the real Harry Potter, right?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, but there is no time for talk now. You must get out of here. Go! Now ---"

Just then, one of Voldemort's servants walked into the study. They shut the door quickly behind them and locked it.

"Mr. Potter – there are two of you," the Death Eater asked in astonishment.

Harry couldn't believe whose voice he was hearing, "Snape? I thought you weren't a Death Eater anymore! Dumbledore gave you a second chance and this is how you repay him ---"

"You don't understand," Snape interrupted, "I am here as a spy for Dumbledore. He sent me here because I can get where I am now – into Voldemort's inner circle. Now, my question for you is – who are you?"

Harry looked up at his professor, "I am the real Harry Potter, I can assure you. Who the Death Eaters have with Voldemort now is a mystery to me."

Snape nodded, "All of the Death Eaters are watching you get killed. Finish what you were doing here and take that," he pointed to the invisibility cloak, "and follow me to the library on the second story. Then, we will both try to see who is posing as you."

Mrs. Weasley held Harry's wand with a scared look on her face, "What if you need this?"

"I wont! Just go!"

Mrs. Weasley nodded and after kissing Harry on the cheek, she apparated away. Harry picked up the invisibility cloak and threw it over himself. He followed Snape out of the study and Snape closed the door quietly. Suddenly, there was an uproar of laughter from downstairs. It seemed as though the Death Eaters downstairs were amused. Harry rushed down there and Snape led him to the library. There were about fifty or so Death Eaters lined along the walls and bookshelves of the room. Snape reached his hand behind him ever so slightly and Harry touched it so Snape knew that he was still there. Harry could hear Voldemort's voice, but could not see him. Snape's large cloak was blocking him and the victim from view.

"Had enough yet, Potter?"

Voldemort's voice was strong and bold, however, Harry failed to fear it. There was a small whimper and the Death Eaters laughed. Harry followed Snape as he walked up to a fellow Death Eater.

"What has happened so far, Heider," Snape asked.

"Our Lord has cast the Cruciatus Curse on Potter," the Death Eater answered; Harry noticed by the voice that it was the same Death Eater he had first listened to by the back door of the manor.

Snape nodded and walked to a corner of the room that was unoccupied and slouched down a few inches.

"Are you still there," he whispered.

"Of course," Harry replied.

"Alright. Go up to your imposter and tell him to apparate. Whisper it to him. There is too much noise; no one will hear you. Tell him that Mrs. Weasley is safe and that he should go before he is hurt."

"Yes, Professor."

Harry walked to the middle of the room where the imposter lay. Harry was scared by his appearance. He was a spitting image to Harry…it was weird. Harry kneeled down and began to speak.

"Listen to me, but don't speak," Harry whispered, "This is the real Harry Potter, though I am under an invisibility cloak. Mrs. Weasley is safe. I should thank you for your diversion, but you were foolish to come here. Apparate out of here – now!"

"I can't Harry," the imposter replied with unmoving lips, "Its me – Ron."

Harry couldn't look more surprised, "Ron? You idiot! I will have a talk with you…once we get the bloody hell out of here…"

Voldemort looked down at Ron. The image reflected in his red, albino eyes was of impatience and hunger…a hunger for death.

"Alright, at this point, I am desperate," Harry began as Voldemort raised his wand, "Stand up, say you are going to apparate, hold your wand above your head as though you mean to and I will wrap the cloak around you."

Ron nodded and did as he was told considering that he was just as desperate as Harry was, "H-hey Voldie! Yeah, I am talking to you, you bloody moron!"

Voldemort scowled and Harry leaned forward, "What in the name of Queen Elizabeth are you doing?"

Ron held up his hand towards Harry and continued, "You know, conquering the wizarding World isn't as hard as you may think it is, Voldy," Ron snickered, enjoying his power, "It is like taking candy from a baby – of course, some of us find it harder then others."

There was laughter from the Death Eaters as Ron stared pointedly at Voldemort. He looked none too pleased.

"Don't you mock me, Potter," Voldemort yelled, raising his wand.

"Oh, put that thing down before you put an eye out," Ron ordered in a laid back style, "Seriously, though! I have met chunks of cheese with more cunning plans than yours! I mean, you choose Quirrell as a host at one point in time! If you want to triumph over all, I would suggest you buy the book, Conquering for Dummies. That should give you some kind of start…"

"Er, Ron," Harry said as a roar of laughter trickled through the Death Eaters lined along the walls, "Start wrapping this up, will you?"

"Let us duel already, Potter!"

"You know, I would love to, but I have other things on my schedule. I just wanted to pop in, say hi and to encourage you to think happy thoughts and not to let the world get you down. Yoga classes may help. At any rate, I wish you luck achieving your dreams!"

Ron smiled, held up his wand and pointed it at his hand. A bouquet of flowers fell out of his wand into his hand. Boldly, he walked up to the steaming Dark Lord, placed the flowers in his hands and patted him on the head.

"This is a token of my apologies for foiling your plans, yet again. Now, without further a due, I bid you farewell, Tommy-boy!"

Ron raised the wand above his head and Harry, scared for Ron's life now, swiftly threw the cloak over him. The look on Voldemort's face was priceless.

"Quickly, to the door," Harry exclaimed as the Death Eaters roared with anger.

The two of them made their way out of the room, down the stairs and out the back door. Harry led Ron to where his backpack lay. There they stood for a moment, catching their breath.

"Ron…" Harry gasped, "You almost had me killed!"

Ron laughed, "You are the one Voldemort thinks threw all of those witty insults at him! Come on! We have to go before the Death Eaters come out and see us!"

Harry picked up his backpack and they were off again, racing through Little Hangleton Churchyard, dodging headstones and kicking up cloudy mist. Once they were by the road, Harry pulled the cloak off of them.

"Do you think…another bus…will be running," Ron gasped, yet again out of breath.

"Yes," Harry replied shortly and leaned against the fence enclosing the churchyard.

It was almost eleven when the bus finally arrived. The two boys boarded and sat in a seat near the back.

"Where are you boys off to," the driver asked them.

"Charing Cross Road," Harry answered.

Neither Harry nor Ron could get over what they had just been through. They each told each other their stories. Once they had entered Diagon Alley, they shopped for supplies for the Wizard Wheezes. Afterwards, they bought things from Gambol and Japes and headed on to the Burrow by Floo Powder. 

Harry fell into the common room of the Weasley house closely followed by Ron. They were mobbed by a collection of several hands picking them up and dusting them off.

"Harry! Ron! You are okay!"

"Hey! The other Harry doesn't look too bad, either!"

"That is Ron, though."

"Which one is Ron?"

"That one!"

"How can you be sure?"

A chorus of voices spoke at the same time, trying to drown out each other enough to be heard. A loud whistle cut everyone off. Mr. Weasley stepped up.

"Boys, sit on the couch. You two have a lot of explaining to do."

Harry and Ron sat on the couch. Ginny sat on one side of them, Hermione on the other. The rest of the family assembled themselves around the room in either a chair or on the floor. Mr. Weasley remained standing, preparing to interrogate the two.

"First of all, which one of you is Harry," Mr. Weasley began.

"I am," Harry spoke.

"Ron," Mr. Weasley said, turning to the other boy that shared the same image, "how did you manage to take Harry's form?"

"Polyjuice Potion," he replied, "Fred and George made some a couple months earlier and had some left over. Hermione found a way to extend the amount of time that I remained Harry."

Mr. Weasley nodded, "How long have you been in Harry's form?"

"Well, it began at one this afternoon. I have had a bottle of the potion with me and have been drinking it every hour, just incase some of the effects began to wear off."

Mr. Weasley turned to Harry in a satisfied manner, "So, tell us about your day, since the time you left this house. Don't eave out a detail."

Harry didn't fail to leave out a thing. He recapped the entire day from three that morning until the time he landed in the Burrow (except for the part where he shopped for WW supplies). Mr. Weasley, who was sitting in a chair by this point, seemed satisfied.

"Harry and Ron – what you both did today showed both great bravery and extreme idiocy. I believe I speak for everyone when I say that I am relieved that this is all over. I also want to thank all of you children, for taking part in the rescue of your mother. I know that you both must be tired from the adventures of the day, so I will allow you to retire to bed."

Mr. Weasley hugged Ron and Harry and left the room.

"I am sorry I told Ron where you went, Harry, but I had to," Ginny explained, "He, Fred, George demanded that I did! They also shoved some sort of candy down my throat…"

Fred, who was sitting on the floor, leaned forward, "The Weasley/Potter Original Truth Spiller – comes in soft chews of every flavor known to man!"

Harry laughed and looked at Ginny, "Don't worry about it. Come on, Mini Me, lets get to bed. I am exhausted."

Ron (who was slowly regaining the red color of his hair) and Harry got read for bed. They hopped in practically half asleep.

"You know, Ron," Harry yawned, "If I weren't so tired, I would be chewing you out right now. However, you do make a very sexy Harry Potter…"

Ron laughed, but before he could reply, both boys fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter 5 ~ July 31

The morning after the rescue at the Riddle manor, Mrs. Weasley sent an owl to Dumbledore, informing him of what had happened. As a result, he ordered that Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer. Mrs. Weasley informed the children a week later. 

"Dumbledore has asked that in the last week of July, you all go to Hogwarts, under his watch," she said to the group, "Be prepared to leave on the twenty first."

Over the next couple of weeks, Hermione and Ron acted secretive. Much of the time, Ron left Harry with Fred and George to create more Wizard Wheezes (Stink Pellets – same compact size, emits more stink; Weasley Twin Croissants – made with Polyjuice Potion, these croissants will turn the consumer into a Weasley twin. Which one are you?). Harry enjoyed it, but he still wanted to know what was up with the two of them.

It was the night of the twentieth, and he still had no clue what the two of them had been doing. Harry and Ron were packing their trunks, getting ready to catch the train in the morning. They had just gotten back from Diagon Alley and, with his dad's pay raise and Percy's contribution to the family, all of the Weasleys were able to get brand new robes and schoolbooks. Ron was ecstatic and couldn't wait to show them off. As Harry was folding his Quidditch robes, Fred burst in.

"Guys," he began, "we have more Wizard Wheeze supplies and merchandise then I thought."

Ron looked up from his packing, "Well, what have we got?"

"Three hundred Stink Pellets, Twin Croissants, XXL Bubble Blowing Gum, Ton – Tongue Toffee, Truth Spillers and Canary Creams. We also have five hundred Potter Bouncers, Spinnet Bouncers, Weasley Bouncers, Johnson Bouncers and Bell Bouncers."

"That doesn't sound too bad to me," Ron exclaimed, "Its only eight hundred small things. Just shrink them."

"No, Ron, that is forty six hundred small items," Fred corrected.

Harry gulped, "We can't shrink all of that! A spell that huge would…we, we might get expelled for it! You can shrink some of the things, but the other things will just have to be randomly shoved in our trunks."

Ron and Harry looked down at their already full trunks and quickly realized that it was out of the question. Suddenly, Ron's face brightened up.

"I know a spell that will extend the area of our trunks without increasing the size of the trunk itself," Ron exclaimed, "If I use a formula I learned in Arithmancy, I am sure that I can create a spell that will increase the area by two square feet. This is the most I can do without triggering the alert that will inform the Ministry that I am breaking the Underage Wizard rules."

Fred nodded, "Ron, you work on that. I will tell George."

He left and Ron pulled out a piece of parchment.

"Now, lets see," he mumbled, "I need to remember how I did this…"

Harry sat and tried to help. The twins walked in a while later and things began to roll. It took them three hours and sixteen tries, but finally, they had the spell.

"I can stick some vials in here, too," Harry said as he stuffed his share of the Wizard Wheezes in his trunk.

"Just one question," Ron began, turning to his brothers, "Where are we going to set up our laboratory?"

Fred and George smiled mysteriously.

  


It was five in the morning when Harry was awaken by Mrs. Weasley. 

Wake up, Harry, sweetie. We have to catch the train in an hour."

Harry rolled out of bed and met his friends in the kitchen where breakfast was being served.

"Good morning, ol' chap," Fred exclaimed, nearly bouncing out of his seat.

Harry was startled by this enthusiasm. George giggled and passed Harry syrup for his pancakes.

"George, what is wrong with him," Harry asked in a monotone voice as he poured syrup on his pancakes.

George looked down at the table and began to laugh as Harry took a bite of his pancakes. A sudden burst of energy ran through his body and, in no time, he was shaking with hyperness.

"Don't tell me that this is a Wizard Wheeze," Harry said quickly, almost unable to separate his words.

"But it is, Harry," George replied, "and a bloody successful one at that."

"What do you call it?"

"Energy Syrup – the extra boost you need before Potions."

Harry smiled, "Excellent."

Everyone finished their breakfast, got dressed and dragged their trunks to the common room from where they traveled to Diagon Alley by floo powder. They arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, and then proceeded to Muggle London. Mrs. Weasley was surprised that Harry and Fred seemed to energized while the others were so quiet and tired. It was not long before everyone had clambered onto Platform 9 ¾. Instead of the Hogwarts Express, there was a small steam engine with two cars coming off the back. Even though it was small, it was no less luxurious than the Hogwarts Express. Fred and George seized every opportunity to slip Ginny a Wizard Wheeze with the candy that Harry bought her and Hermione and Ron were being more secretive than ever.

Harry was walking up the train when he heard Ron and Hermione's voice coming from a compartment.

"--- do you?"

"No, Ron. I think that everything is going according to plan."

"Are we sure that Ginny hasn't said anything to him? You know how Ginny adores Harry."

"I trust that Ginny hasn't said a word. She wont say anything unless she is asked about it, and I doubt Harry knows anything, so he cant ask her."

Harry chuckled at Hermione's last words and walked back to where he came from to find Ginny. He found her in a compartment, alone, writing in a journal.

"I hope that book isn't speaking to you," Harry said with a laugh and Ginny closed the book quickly.

"No," she replied, forcing a smile to her lips, "Its, er, something Hermione bought for me in Diagon Alley."

Harry could tell that she seemed nervous. He sat down across from her.

"Are you okay," he asked.

"Um…I…" Ginny's hands were shaking and her speech became slurred, "Isa…er, um…willsyou, I mean, willsyou…will – you – be – my – boy – friend," she sighed, happy that she had finally gotten that out of her system.

Harry smiled and held one of Ginny's trembling hands in his, "Ginny, you are the sweetest girl I know, but I cant gout with you. You are my best friends' sister and, well, you are like a sister to me as well. I am sorry, Ginny."

She nodded and a single, silent tear streamed down her face, "I understand."

"Please, don't cry," Harry begged, wiping the tear away with his thumb, "You shouldn't cry. I am still your friend and you can come to me and speak to me about anything. I am always here. Remember that."

Ginny nodded and Harry forgot all about what he was going to ask her. 

  


The sky was black except for hundreds of twinkling stars and a full, blood red moon. Harry suffered from the bonds, which bound him to the tombstone as he saw all of the Death Eaters, heads bowed before their master. Blood ran down his right arm where Wormtail had cut him. Always the blood he could feel…the feeling of the end. Then, Voldemort pointed his wand at him and murmured "Avada Kedavra". Harry saw a green gleam escape from the wand and advance towards him. He felt the green smoke enter his lungs. He choked. The laughter of the Death Eaters rang out in the still night. The sound was of victory – evil victory. Harry did not hear anymore but the laughter of the Death Eaters.

Suffocating, Harry awoke with a rough taste in his mouth. Each night, since he had arrived at Hogwarts, the same anguish took him and each night, it seemed more real and stronger to him, which indicated to him that Voldemort was becoming increasingly more powerful. Each night, Harry awoke in full nightmare, his scar burning ever more powerfully. Tonight, it was especially bad, so he decided to talk to Dumbledore.

As Harry quietly turned the corners and tip toed down the corridors of Hogwarts, he couldn't help but notice how quiet it all was. None of the pictures were stirring and it was a relief to know that Mrs. Norris would be nowhere to be found. He just then realized that it was his fifteenth birthday and, for once, he hadn't been awake at midnight, feeling sorry for himself.

Harry approached the stone gargoyle, quietly gave the password and stepped upon the spinning staircase. He went to knock on the oak door leading into Dumbledore's office, but there was a note on the door that read:

_Have gone out for OP duties. I will be back before the arrival of dusk._

                                                            ~Prof. Albus Dumbledore

Harry looked the note over several times. Dumbledore didn't tell him that he was leaving. Harry was walking back to his room when he bumped into Professor McGonagall. 

"What are you doing out of bed," she asked.

"I needed to speak to Professor Dumbledore, but he wasn't there," Harry replied.

McGonagall nodded, "Alright then. Go back to bed now and don't make any trouble on your way there."

Harry nodded and began leaving.

"Oh, and Potter…"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall," Harry asked, turning back to her.

"Happy Birthday." 

  


Harry was awoken once again, though this time by someone he had never expected to be there.

"Hurry up, Harry. Wake up! It's a great day for training! Come on, I want to get as much practicing in as I can before lunch."

With a small groan, Harry sat up in bed. He looked up at whom had shaken him awake – it was Oliver. Harry smiled.

"Oliver," he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Dumbledore gave me the job of Madam Hooch's assistant. I will be helping the Quidditch Teams train and watch over their practices," he announced proudly.

Harry grinned and Oliver left so he could get dressed. As soon as he was in his practice robes, Harry walked down to the Common Room with his Firebolt. On the table was breakfast and tons of gifts. Oliver, Hermione, Ron and a black dog (Sirius, in animagus form) was sitting around it. 

"Happy birthday, Harry," Hermione exclaimed.

"Come, come. Sit down and enjoy your breakfast. Oh, and put down that Firebolt. You wont be needing it any longer," Oliver said, clapping Harry on the back.

Harry sat and ate breakfast as he opened his gifts.

"This is from me, Harry," Oliver told him.

With a mouthful of pumpkin turnovers, Harry took the huge gift from Oliver and opened it. Even if his mouth weren't so full, he still wouldn't be able to say a word.

"It's the latest model of racing broom available," Oliver began, "The Thunderclap 2003 can go at a top speed of two hundred five miles per hour, the maneuvering is much lighter and quicker than the previous models, a stronger Breaking Charm, better Cushioning Charm and an anti- Hurling Charm. It is the perfect broom for a Seeker. While we are on the subject of Quidditch, I have something from McGonagall that you have to see."

Harry took a scroll out of Oliver's hand and unrolled it. Inside, there was a message from McGonagall.

_Mr. Potter,_

_As head of the Gryffindor house, I must take care of the constitution of the Quidditch team. Indeed, the competition will be tough again this year and our team is complete no longer with the departure of Wood, our Keeper and Trainer. I had a long talk with him myself and we both decided that you would be the best candidate for Captain. Of course, it is up to you whether you chose to accept this position or not. As you think about your decision (which had most probably been decided, knowing you), please be aware of the responsibilities that this position implies. Send me your answer quickly. If indeed your answer is yes, your first responsibility is to choose a new guard. Happy birthday, young Harry._

_                                                            With my best feelings,_

                                                Professor McGonagall 

                                         Deputy Headmistress

Harry was stunned. He never believed that he would be offered the chance to be the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 

"Does anyone have a quill handy," Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and handed him one. Harry quickly scribbled a letter of acceptance to Professor McGonagall and sent Hedwig off with it.

"You can open my present now, Harry," Hermione exclaimed, handing him a neatly wrapped gift.

Harry unwrapped it and smiled. It was a magical quill and ink kit.

"You can write with it. While you write, the ink is visible. Once you put the tip of your wand on the note and say 'The password is ________' and put a password in, the ink turns invisible. If you want the ink to re-appear, say the password. If you say the wrong password, you will be squirted with ink. If, by the third time, you haven't said the right password, the parchment will disintegrate into nothing and let out a shrieking laugh," Hermione explained.

"Sounds perfect for Snape's class," Harry replied, "Thank you, Hermione."

Soon, the black dog that had been sitting there ever so patiently, barked. Ron took that as a cue to herd Hermione and Oliver out of the room so Harry could have some time alone with his Godfather. Once the three other people were out of the room, Sirius morphed from his animagus form to human.

"Harry, how have you been," Sirius asked as he sat down on the couch.

Harry shook his head, "Not so good."

"Are you still feeling guilty for the happenings at the Triwizard Tournament? Don't be, son. Put those things behind you and think of what you must do to defend yourself against Voldemort I the future."

Harry sat back and sighed, "Once I get on that Quidditch field, I wont think of a thing. Only the Snitch."

"Speaking of Quidditch, that is a pretty nice broom there. Thinking about it, I wish I had played Quidditch."

Harry and Sirius sat into late afternoon on the couch and talked. As the time neared for Sirius to go, Harry gave him one of the jars of magic invisible ink.

"Write to me and tell me where you are," Harry told him.

"What shall our password be," Sirius asked.

"Padfoot and Prongs Junior," Harry replied after a moment of thought.

Sirius nodded, put the ink in his pocket, hugged Harry and morphed back into his Animagus form. Harry walked Sirius out to the front of Hogwarts and watched him as he set off in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Harry met Oliver, Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall.

"I don't know about you, Harry, but I want to see how that Thunder Baby flies," Oliver said.

"Hold you horses, Oliver, and let the boy have some lunch," Ron ordered, "Come on Harry. Grab some chicken."

"No, no, that's no good for a Seeker," Oliver exclaimed, "There are plenty of fruits and whole grain breads. Eat those. A bulky Seeker is not a happy Seeker."

Ron laughed and Oliver looked at him strangely. Harry couldn't relax. He was just as anxious as Oliver to get on the Quidditch Field. Harry ate a slice of pumpkin pie and ran up to the Common Room to get the broom. He met Oliver on the Quidditch field. Hermione and Ron were sitting in the stands to watch. 

"Alright, Harry," Oliver yelled to him, "Do a few laps around the Pitch. Show me what this broom's got."

Harry took off. Slowly he continued accelerating until he reached two hundred miles per hour. The force was so great that it about blew Harry off of the broom. He skid to a halt beside Oliver who couldn't believe his eyes.

"Bloody hell, Harry," he exclaimed, "That is amazing! Lets get to maneuvering. I'll throw some balls in different directions and we'll see how quickly you can catch them."

Harry and Oliver worked for hours on Quidditch. Late dusk was turning into early night when they decided to go in for dinner. They walked into the Great Hall. The Gryffindor table was decorated with streamers, Gryffindor flags and confetti. As the two of them walked closer, Harry realized that the entire Gryffindor house was there, sitting around gifts, dinner and a huge cake decorated with the Gryffindor coat of arms. Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were sitting there as well. 

"Happy birthday, Harry," everybody exclaimed.

There was a lot of talk, laughter and stories about everyone's summer exchanged as they ate. The partying went on well through the night and in the Common Room until the next morning. By six, everyone was in bed except for Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"I can't believe you organized all of this for me," Harry exclaimed sleepily, "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it, Harry," Hermione said, "Professor Dumbledore helped us out a lot."

"Speaking of Professor Dumbledore," Harry began, "I went to speak to him early yesterday morning and there was a note on his door saying that he was out for OP duties. He never told me he was leaving and he usually always does."

"Maybe that means he didn't want you to know he was leaving," Ron suggested.

"Exactly," Hermione exclaimed, "That is why we have to figure out what he meant by OP. I am sure that there is a book in the library that would have something on it. We can start looking now and ----"

"How about you can start looking now while Harry and I get some sleep and we'll meet you down there later," Ron said.

Hermione glared at Ron.

"Why don't we all get some sleep and meet here around one, okay," Harry asked. 

They all agreed and left to get some sleep. When Harry walked up to his room, Hedwig was sitting on his bed, waiting for him to arrive. There was roll of parchment around one of her talons. Harry took it an unrolled it. This is what it said:

_Dear Harry,                                                                                                8/15_

_            I have been wondering all summer whether I should write you or not, since we don't know each other every well, but what I need to know, I have decided that I should learn from you. As you know, Cedric and I went to the Yule Ball together, but what most people don't know is that we were a couple from that point until his death. I have been grieving all summer, not knowing how exactly he died. I know that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named killed him with Avada Kedavra, but I need more than that if I am going to be able to sleep at night. I wont be satisfied until I hear the story of his death from you, the only person that can truly tell me what exactly happened. Please, Harry, reply as quickly as possible. I anxiously await your letter._

                                                          ~Cho Chang

Harry blinked and read the note repeatedly. As soon as he was able to gather his thoughts, he pulled out a scroll, a quill and ink and began writing.

_Dear Cho,                                                                                                      8/15_

_            I don't mind that you wrote me, though, for this reason makes me terribly sad. You deserve closure and I hope that I will be able to give it to you._

_            At the end of the third task in the Triwizard Tournament, both Cedric and I reached the middle of the maze at the same time. After a moment, we decided to take the Triwizard Cup together. The Cup had been turned into a Portkey, which transferred us to a churchyard in Little Hangleton. As soon as we arrived, I caught sight of Wormtail, Voldemort's servant and one of his Death Eaters. It was not Voldemort who killed Cedric, but Wormtail under the orders of Voldemort, and used Voldemort's wand. Wormtail pointed his wand at Cedric and said, "Avada Kedavra". A stream of green light came out of the wand and hit Cedric. He lay motionless…dead._

_I hope that what I have told you puts some of your nightmares to rest. I wish someone could put mine to rest just as easily. If there is anything you want to talk about, I'll listen._

                                                ~Harry Potter

Harry tied the scroll onto Hedwig's left and sent her off. Then, he went to sleep.

  


"Hoo-hoo, hoo…"

Hedwig walked up onto Harry's stomach and woke him up.

"Hedwig, what? Oh, a letter from Cho. Thank you."

It was around one thirty in the morning and he had been awaken from the first pleasant dream he had had all summer. Harry put on his glasses and pulled out his wand.

"Lumos," Harry whispered and the end of his wand lit up.

He took the scroll from Hedwig's talon and unrolled it.

_Dear Harry,_

_            I am sorry I wrote to you about such a terrible thing. I am sure that the memories are worse for you than they are for me. I didn't mean to bring them up. I hope you weren't mad about me asking._

_            I hope that your summer has been going well. I haven't done much except for Quidditch. How about you? What's the team doing now that Oliver is gone? I have also learned some new spells and brewed some potions. Nothing real fancy…just some practice._

_Anyways, if you need to talk, I will be here to listen as well._

                                                ~Cho Chang

_Dear Cho,                                                                                                     8/23_

_            I don't mind that you asked about Cedric. You deserved to now. Don't feel guilty. I feel guilty enough without making someone else feel guilty. _

_            I have trained for Quidditch a lot over the summer. Almost all of my waking hours were spent on the Pitch (I have been staying at Hogwarts over the summer) and Oliver has been helping me. I have been named captain of the team, but we don't have a Keeper yet. Oliver gave me a Thunderclap 2003 for my birthday._

_Some other stuff that has happened over the summer: I got a detention with Sprout (can you believe that?) and Oliver and I snuck off a lot to go to Diagon Alley. Anyways, its bout two in the morning and I need to get some sleep before I have to train some more. School starts in a week! I can't wait!_

_                                                Hope to see you soon,_

                                Harry

  


It was the day before school started. Harry had just finished a team practice and was walking up to the castle with Oliver when Fred and George ran up to him.

"Hey, Harry," George began, "I think we are ready to show you our little secret."

"What little secret," Oliver asked, interested.

Fred shook his head at Oliver, "This is a secret for Harry and Ron…Oliver, you are just not cool enough to be let in on this."

Oliver shook his head, said bye to Harry and walked away. Harry smiled.

"So, I am finally allowed to see the laboratory," he asked the twins.

"Yes," George replied.

The three of them met Ron at the front doors of the school. He looked anxious.

"Come on, you three," Ron yelled to them, "I want to see this!"

They walked up to the seventh floor and into the tower. They walked into the portrait hole but turned into the reading room before reaching the common room. Fred and George led Harry and Ron around the bookshelves and up to a portrait. The man inside smiled.

"Flibbertigibbet," Fred said to it and the picture swung open.

They crawled into the hole, George first, Harry second, then Ron and last Fred. They had crawled into a hidden bathroom. Harry looked around at it and the several bubbling cauldrons, workstations and shelves of ingredients for the Wizard Wheezes.

"This used to be just a bathroom," George informed Ron and Harry, "and the reading room wasn't here when the castle was built here originally, either. This was a hallway to this bathroom, the guys' and a girls' bathroom was beside it. Then, one morning, Gryffindor students woke one morning to find that this room had built itself overnight. The girls' bathroom has been completely lost while this one has just been hidden behind a picture."

"How did you find it," Ron asked.

"Marauder's Map," Fred answered.

"The password?"

"Marauder's Map," George replied.

"Wow," Harry exclaimed.

The four guys worked for a long time brainstorming and figuring out formulas for new Wizard Wheezes. It was close to midnight before Harry was able to get up to bed. When he walked in, he found a surprise on his bed: another letter from Cho.

_Dear Harry,                                                                                             8/31_

_            School starts tomorrow! I can't wait! I bet you are at the Pitch right now getting as much practice in as you can. Go Harry, go! Oh, and congratulations for getting the new broom. That's awesome. I bet Malfoy will be jealous. _

_            Um, I have a question for you. I hope this doesn't seem too forward or anything, but I was wondering if you would like to be my boyfriend. Don't write me and answer yet. Think about it and tell me tomorrow night at the feast._

_                                                            With Love,_

                                                Cho Chang

Harry read the last paragraph of the letter and felt chills run down his spine. He couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Wait until I tell Ron, Harry thought as he rolled the scroll up again and placed it in his trunk at then end of the bed.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6 ~ The Feast

It was five PM and all of the Gryffindors were sitting at the table, waiting for the other students to arrive. As the upper classmen poured in, Harry spotted Cho. Another girl that walked in also caught his eye. Suddenly, he gasped. It was the girl that he had bumped into on the train in London. His eyes followed her anxiously as she walked with Professor McGonagall. What house is she in, he wondered to himself. Suddenly, he was unsure about Cho's offer. Soon, the first years arrived, scared, but in complete awe, and made their way to the front of the Hall.

"Welcome all," Headmaster Dumbledore exclaimed and the entire Hall grew silent, "I would like to welcome back our old friends as well as welcoming in our new. The first newcomer that I would like to introduce is Anistasia Willow. She is a transfer from Beauxbaton and will be beginning her fifth year here. I trust that you all will make her feel welcome."

Anistasia blushed as applause rung out in the Great Hall for her. Once the clapping subsided, Dumbledore continued.

"Next, I would like to inform you that there is a slight change in Potions this year. Professor Snape has taken leave for most of this year. In his place will be Professor ----"

The headmaster's sentence was cut short as an owl flew into the window that the Owl Post enters from and straight into the south wall. Many kids gasped at it. Draco and some of the other Slytherins laughed loudly. Harry was wondering what the owl was doing in the Hall. His unspoken question was soon answered when the owl morphed into human form. There stood a woman with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes wearing a long, black cloak.

"I am sorry! I am here! I apologize. I haven't gotten used to my wings yet," she explained nervously as she made her way up to the teachers' table, "Please, don't mind me, headmaster. Do continue."

"I would like to introduce to you all Professor Lauren Wall, Potions Master and head of Slytherin house," Dumbledore exclaimed.

Professor Wall looked somewhat surprised when we all applauded her with welcome. Draco looked none to pleased.

"Another Professor that I would like to welcome is the New Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Welcome, Professor Carol Jane Roberts."

Professor Roberts stood and took a bow.

"Last, but not least, I would like to invite back Oliver Wood, who will be Madam Hooch's assistant. I know that she will be needing one for the Quidditch Season this year, but I will be getting to that later. 

"Now, to take care of some business. A reminder to all that the Dark Forest is off limits to anyone who doesn't want to be eaten, attacked, trampled on or caught in a web of some sort. I would also like to announce that, this year, we will have a Quidditch All Star team composed of the best players in the school. We will be competing against Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and a school of magic in America called South Gravewitch. The competitions will start in the middle of February, which means that our Quidditch season will start earlier in order to allow us to gather statistics and create our best team. I will talk more to the Quidditch Team captains about that. Without any further a due, I would like to begin the sorting ceremony. Professor McGonagall, please bring out the Sorting Hat."

Professor McGonagall walked in from the right side of the Hall (the left if you are facing the professors' table) carrying a ragged, very old looking hat and placed it on a stool. As soon as she stepped away, the hat began to speak.

"Gather closer so you can hear,

"My poem to begin another year.

"There is a new group of kids who will try me on,

"I will tell them where to go; all said and done.

"There is one of four houses you will be sorted to, 

"When I look into your head, it will give me a clue.

"Will you be sorted into Hufflepuff?

"The house of the talented, bold and the tough.

"Or, possibly, Ravenclaw,

"They are all careful and abide by the law.

"Then there is Slytherin,

"The most evil of kin,

"Their history is never spoken of, my friend.

"Of Gryffindor, what can I say?

"The rivals of Slytherin, from the beginning to this day.

"They are honest, faithful and true,

"It is an honor if they pick you.

"Now put me on and try your luck,

"And the name of your house, I will chuck."

The Sorting Hat closed its eyes and Professor McGonagall pulled out a long scroll. She began calling names to be sorted.

"Brittany Ali!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Jared Athens!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

This process went on for a while.

"Anistasia Willow!"

The fifth year student walked up boldly. An eerie silence fell upon the room as she sat on the stool and put the hat on. Everyone seemed to want her in their house. It was then that Harry made a decision.

"If she is put into Gryffindor," he said to himself, "then I will say no to Cho and try my luck with Anistasia."

After a moment, the Sorting Hat announced to everyone what house she was destined to be in.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The suspense broke and cheers rang out through the Hall. Anistasia slid off of the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table. She was welcomed warmly.

"Anistasia," Ron called, "Over here!"

Hermione looked at him strangely as she walked over and sat.

"Hi," she said, "Are you a fifth year?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, "I am Ron Weasley and this is Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

Anistasia nodded at Hermione and smiled at Harry.

"I saw you on a train in London earlier this summer," she said, "We bumped into each other."

Harry smiled. So she remembers, he thought.

"Yeah, um…sorry about that."

"Oh, don't worry about it," she replied, grinning, "I have nearly forgotten all about it. I am surprised that I failed to recognize you however. The famous Harry Potter."

Harry blushed and they laughed a short laugh as they watched as the last people were sorted. Then, Dumbledore stood and made one last announcement.

"Congratulations all sorties. I am sure that your house will make you feel welcome. Now, let the feast begin!"

Food filled the plates and everyone began eating. Harry couldn't touch a thing.

"Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment," Harry said and stood.

Hermione nodded and continued to talk to Anistasia. Ron, who knew what Harry was leaving for, patted him on the back.

"You are one lucky man, Harry, one lucky man."

Harry nodded, walked over to the Ravenclaw table and tapped Cho on the shoulder. She faced him and smiled. He smiled back. Cho stood up and the two of them walked into the Entrance Hall.

"Hi," was the best thing that Cho could think of to say.

Harry looked at the ground. His hands were in his pockets and, in his mind, he was still debating whether he wanted to say no or yes. He had liked Cho since his third year and had been dying to go out with her…but that was before he saw Anistasia. Did he truly believe in love at first sight? No, of course, he didn't…but he was going to go with it.

"Listen, Cho…I think you are a great person, but I – I feel that it is too early right now to begin a relationship with you. I am really sorry…"

Harry sighed and Cho nodded.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your honesty and thank you for comforting me in Cedric's loss."

Cho embraced Harry in a hug, smiled at him and then walked back into the Great Hall. Harry leaned against the castle wall and kicked at the ground.

"One lucky man," he asked himself, "Yeah, right. Was this the right decision? I hope to find out soon enough."


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter 7 ~ The Discovery

It was the next day and Harry, Ron and, the new posse member, Anistasia, were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Hermione walked up with a stack of papers in her hand.

"Gryffindor Fifth Year Schedules," Hermione announced as she passed them out.

Harry grabbed one and looked at it.

MON, WED, FRI 

8:30 – 10:30 ~ Potions w/ Slytherin

10:30 – 12 ~ Horticulture w/ Hufflepuff

12 – 1 ~ Lunch

1 – 2:30 ~ Flying w/ Slytherin

2:30 – 4 ~ DADA w/ Slytherin

4 – 5:30 ~ Transfiguration w/ Ravenclaw

5:30 – 7 ~ Dinner

7 – 9:30 ~ Free Period

TUES, THURS, SAT

8 – 10:30 ~ Care of Magical Creatures w/ Ravenclaw

10:30 – 12 ~ Spells w/ Ravenclaw

12 – 1 ~ Lunch

1 – 2:30 ~ Arithmancy w/ Hufflepuff

2:30 – 4 ~ Muggle Studies w/ Slytherin

4 – 5:30 ~ Divination w/ Ravenclaw

5:30 – 7 ~ Dinner

7 – 9:30 ~Astronomy w/ Slytherin

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Anistasia hurried off to their first class: Potions.

"I wonder what this new potions master is like," Hermione asked as they made their way down the corridors.

Anistasia nodded as they walked into the classroom. They took a seat as Professor Wall began class.

"Welcome to your fifth year at Hogwarts," Professor Wall began in a loud voice, "This year in Potions, all of the things that you have learned in the past four years – all of the basics – will come back to haunt you as you bring them together to bottle fame, brew glory and stopper death. At the end of this year, you will take the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, also known as O.W.L's. That is why, during the course of this year, I will pound these potions into your head until you know them like the tip of your wand."

Anistasia looked over at Hermione; she looked scared.

"The O.W.L's," she mumbled as though she were in a state of shock, "I totally forgot…"

Anistasia raised her eyebrows and shook her head as she turned back to Professor Wall.

"I will tell you now," she continued, "This year will not be easy nor will I be nice. The first four years were slack, I am sure, compared to what you will be doing this year. I will require from you more work, longer reports, hours of study, frequent tests and pop quizzes and satisfactory behavior if you are to pass this class."

Harry and Ron groaned a bit. She talked a bit more about what is happening this year and then shooed them all off to Horticulture. Professor Sprout welcomed them more warmly than Wall had, talked about the O.W.L's just a tiny bit, their requirements for the class and then answered any questions anyone had. Class ended quickly and everyone was off to lunch.

 "So, how are you liking your first day here," Hermione asked Anistasia.

"I am really enjoying it," she replied, "Everything seems so much nicer than Durmstrang. I love the history behind the school, too."

"Have you read Hogwarts a History," Hermione asked.

"Hermione, don't start," Ron begged.

"Of course. It was the first book I picked up when I discovered that I was coming here."

"You are a sharp girl."

Anistasia blushed a little at Ron's comment, "Well, I…tell me, is there really a Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry nodded, "Oh, yeah. It was opened three years ago by Ron's sister under the orders of Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, who preserved himself in a diary. I went in the chamber to fight the monster after Tom had taken Ginny hostage."

Anistasia laughed, "Come on, now. Tell me the truth."

Ron's expression dropped, "It is the truth. My sister had opened the Chamber of Secrets under the orders of Tom Riddle. She released the Basilisk upon the school. Hermione was petrified by it. Then, being completely controlled by Riddle, Ginny wrote a note saying, "Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever" on the wall outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry and I knew where the entrance to the chamber was, so we went there, though, we had no idea how to open it. The entrance was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. There was a snake engraved on one of the faucets and Harry spoke Parseltongue to it. The chamber opened and we both went down into it. It was Harry who truly saved the day and killed the serpent."

Anistasia looked at Ron in awe, "Oh, my, I thought you were just kidding! Forgive me for doubting you!"

"Its okay," Ron replied.

By this time, the four of them had already been in the Great Hall having lunch. Hermione took another look at her schedule.

"Man, we have two classes in a row with Slytherin," she exclaimed.

"At least we only see them once tomorrow and that is at the very end of the day."

The bell rang and they started towards the Pitch.

"Hey, I have to get something from the room," Anistasia said, "I will be down there soon."

"Yeah…I have to go see Madam Hooch," Harry said, "I will see you guys in Flying."

Hermione and Ron nodded. The two of them made their way to the field. Harry was already there.

"Dude, where's your broom," Ron asked.

"I have been calling it several times…I have no idea," Harry replied.

"Let me try," Hermione said, "Accio Thunderclap!"

Soon, there was a swooshing noise and a long yell as the broom and an addition came towards them. Harry and Ron split and the broom and its occupant landed.

"What in the bloody hell is wrong with this damn thing," Anistasia exclaimed as she stood and looked at her broom.

"That's your broom," Harry asked.

"Yes," Anistasia replied.

Harry sighed, "Sorry, Ani. I was trying to call my broom to me, but I guess I called yours instead. Hey, do you play Quidditch?"

"Yes."

"Any good?"

"I was named the Rookie MVP at Durmstrang in my second year."

"Ever play Keeper?"

"That's my position."

"Are you interested for a position on the Gryffindor team," Harry asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, you'll have to show me what you've got, but I am sure you'll probably get the position on a broom like that."

Harry called his broom and it came to him. Malfoy spotted the broom and walked over to him, carrying his Nimbus 2001.

"So, Potter's got himself a new broom, has he? Too bad you don't have a Quidditch team to go with it," Malfoy taunted.

"Shove it, Malfoy," Ron said, "I can recall on several occasions when he beat you to the Snitch, so if I were you, I would be practicing instead of running my useless mouth."

"Speaking of mouths, it looks like Weasley grew one over the summer. Where did you get the new robes? Donation from Potter?"

"Actually, I should be thanking you for the robes, seeing as how your father scared away all of the Ministry workers. Now my dad and brother are being paid double because of your father's handy work."

Before Draco could answer, they were interrupted by Madam Hooch's shrill call. 

"Come," she called, "Gather round. I am sure that you have been welcomed already on several occasions though, I would like to welcome you back once again. In this class, there will be no O.W.L's and no end-of-year exam. You will, of course, be tested on some things that I will teach you. Today, I will allow you to take it easy and fly around for the period. Take to the air!"

Harry and Ani did as she said while Hermione and Ron got a broom. The day couldn't go by any slower for Harry. He was ready to tell the team about his discovery. When dinner finally rolled around, he was about to burst.

"Attention Gryffindor Quidditch Team," Harry yelled to the Gryffindor table, "There will be a mandatory meeting regarding our plans for this year directly after dinner in the Common Room."

Harry sat beside Ani and they talked about plans for the Quidditch season.

"The Chasers on my team at Durmstrang unleashed the Hawkshed Attacking Formation all the time," Ani explained, "It was extremely effective."

Harry nodded, "I haven't seen that played very much here…"

Harry and Ani finished dinner. The two of them walked up to the Common Room. Soon, the other Quidditch players filed in.

"Alright, Harry. Give us the scoop," George demanded.

"Yeah, what's so important that you have to call a meeting on the first day of classes," Angelina Johnson asked.

"Quiet, quiet," Harry ordered, "I want to introduce to you a candidate for our new Keeper, Anistasia Willow."

"She any good," Fred asked.

"From what she tells me. Rookie MVP in her second year ---"

"No, no," Fred interrupted, "You heard me all wrong. How is she in bed?"

The team laughed, including Anistasia. 

"Dude, shut up," Harry said, going red; he had been trying to get Anistasia to find him interesting and Fred was not about to ruin it for him now, "All of you grab your Quidditch Robes and meet Ani and I at the Pitch."

Ani and Harry flew down to the Pitch and began warming up. The team soon followed.

"Alright," Harry yelled as he began the trial practice, "I am going to release the Quaffle and the Bludgers. Fred and George: beat those Bludgers to a leathery pulp. Angelina, lead the Chasers and go for goals as much as possible. Have good technique. Ani, keep the Chasers from scoring at any cost. The more danger you put yourself into, the better you look and the more willing you're going to be to do it in the game. I will be watching from all angles. After the practice, we will have a vote to see if we want Anistasia on the team. Ready? Take to the air!"

They did as Harry ordered as he released the balls. He kicked off and joined his team in the sky. He watched as each Chaser tried to formulate a plan to get the Quaffle past Ani. Nothing seemed to work. Ani shot left and right and successfully blocked every Quaffle as she dodged the Bludgers. After an hour, Harry called the team down to the center of the field.

"Alright, here's a recap of the hour," Harry began, "Weasley twins: great job with those Bludgers, though we've got to work on that back swing. Angelina, Katie and Alicia: nice job as well. Angelina, you made three shots, Katie, you made five and Alicia, you made two. That is ten shots in all which, equals one hundred points. Not bad at all. Ani, you blocked about one hundred twenty five shots. I find that extremely amazing. Well, you have all seen her perform and now, it is time to vote. All in favor of Ani being our new Keeper?"

Harry raised his hand. Fred and George followed. Then Katie and Angelina lead by Alicia.

"It is unanimous. Anistasia Marie Willow, welcome to the team!"

"Harry, Harry, you need to have her go through the initiation ceremony before you allow her in," George said, "Its only tradition…"

"You are nuts," Katie replied.

The team began to walk into the locker room, debating about the ceremony. Harry turned to Anistasia and smiled.

"Congratulations and, again, welcome to the team. I have to go see McGonagall, so, if you will excuse me for leaving you with these weirdoes ---"

"Say no more, m'lord, and be off with thou," Ani replied, smiling.

Harry flew off to the Owlery and Anistasia made her way into the locker room.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8 ~ The All Hallows Eve Ball

It was the morning of October 31. Harry had been trying all month to get up enough nerve to ask Anistasia to the Halloween Dance. He wasn't doing very well. Ron, Hermione and Anistasia were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast before their first class: Care of Magical Creatures. Harry sat down beside Ani.

"Hey, Harry," Ron exclaimed.

Harry didn't respond. He just stared at a single spot located all the way across the Hall.

"Hey, Earth to Harry."

Harry looked up quickly, "Um, yeah Ron?"

The bell rang and Harry stood up. Anistasia grabbed a croissant and followed him as he headed towards Hagrid's hut.

"Harry," Anistasia said as she caught up with him, "You didn't have breakfast. Are you feeling all right?"

Harry smiled and took the croissant, "Yeah, I am fine. Thanks."

Anistasia nodded and followed Harry to Hagrid's hut. They had the class with Ravenclaw. Harry stared at the ground the entire class. Same thing happened in Spells. Ani sat with him in both classes and, even though Harry wouldn't tell her, she knew exactly what was wrong with him. She seemed to notice that no one realized that Harry was a bit under the weather, either. They were all too hyped up about the ball. When Spells was over, Ani walked beside Harry. She walked with him as he led her towards Gryffindor Tower. Halfway there, he stopped.

"Anistasia, I am very much capable of going somewhere alone," he told her.

"I am sorry. I am worried about you, that's all," she replied, "Will you tell me what's bugging you so?"

"Nothing," he said, "I am just fine. Give me some time alone, okay?"

Anistasia nodded and walked off towards the library where she knew Ron and Hermione would be.

"Hello," she said walking up to them, "Are you still looking for the meaning of 'OP'?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, "But no luck. Where's Harry?"

"In Gryffindor Tower. Haven't you noticed him acting strangely today?"

"He acts like this every Halloween. Its okay," Hermione told Ani, "On this night fourteen years ago, Harry's parents were killed in Godric's Hollow by Lord Voldemort. He got his scar, defeated Voldemort and lost his parents on this night. I am sure that the events at the end of last school year are probably taking its toll right now as well."

Anistasia got a scared look on her face, "He's not going to do anything rash, is he?" 

"Oh, no," Ron replied, "Don't worry about that. He will be just fine in the morning."

Anistasia nodded and continued to help them look. 

"I am so happy Divination is cancelled," Hermione exclaimed.

Anistasia sighed, "Man, but I can't believe Astronomy is cancelled. The stars are supposed to be terribly pretty tonight."

The bell rang to signal the beginning of Arithmancy. Anistasia and Hermione looked for the entire hours, but Harry never showed. All classes after Arithmancy were cancelled. Hermione wanted to look more for the "OP" abbreviation.

"Give it a rest, Hermione," Anistasia begged, "we have a ball to get ready for."

"I can't," Hermione, answered, "I am sure we are close."

"Anistasia's right," Ron said, "We can look tomorrow."

"Just an hour, please, I am begging you. All we need is an hour. We'll pull out tons of books and begin looking. What we can't finish there, we can pack up to go."

Ani and Ron looked at Hermione. Finally, they gave in and rushed over to the library for the second time that day.

"Anistasia, you take that section, Ron, you take the section five shelves after that and I will pick up where we left off earlier," Hermione ordered.

They all did as planed and looked for almost two hours for anything that could give them a clue about "OP".

"Hey, guys, we had better pack this up to go," Ani said, walking up to Hermione and Ron who were at a table, reading, "The ball starts in two hours."

Hermione nodded and picked up a stack of about thirteen nice, thick books. Ron followed with about eighteen and Anistasia with twenty-one. Madam Pince gave the three of them weird looks as she took note of the books they were checking out and they were off to Gryffindor Tower.

Anistasia and Hermione laid their books on their beds and began to get ready for the ball. Hermione's robes were scarlet with gold trim. Anistasia's robes were made out of silk and were emerald green colored with black trim. They took a long time with their hair and make up, but they believed that it was well worth it.

Ron had left for the ball without them and Harry was, evidently, still getting ready. Ani and Hermione walked down there with each other.

"Hey, Ani," Fred said when he saw her, "Care to dance?"

Anistasia smiled and nodded. Incubus was the live band that was playing. "I Wish You Were Here" was blasting through the Great Hall. Fred led her out onto the dance floor. Hermione and Ron joined them a bit later.

"Have you seen Harry," Anistasia yelled over "Drive".

"No, he might be in the courtyard," Hermione replied.

Ani sighed, "I am going to look for him. Thanks for the dance, Fred."

Fred nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Ani left the Great Hall, but didn't know where to look for Harry. Therefore, letting her instincts carry her, Anistasia found herself entering Gryffindor Tower. In the Common Room, Harry was sitting on the couch. He was in black dress robes and twirling an orange rose in his hand. Then, he brought his hand to the rose petals and began pulling them out, one by one. 

"She loves me…she loves me not…" Harry was mumbling as each petal sailed to the common room floor.

Ani walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Harry…"

He looked startled as he turned towards Anistasia.

"What are you doing in here? Why aren't you at the ball," she asked.

Harry shrugged, "I am trying to work up the courage to ask you to the dance."

Anistasia smiled, "Well, while you work on that, why don't you and I go flying. It is such a beautiful night. What do you say?"

He looked up at her with a grateful look on his face, "Yes, I would like that."

The two of them, with their brooms, headed out towards the Pitch. Halfway there, they decided to take to the air.

"I have never been flying at night," Anistasia told Harry as she gazed at the stars, "My parents never allowed me to. I have always wondered, since I was little, if I could actually fly high enough to touch the stars. Oh, look over there, Harry. Isn't the castle gorgeous?"

"It's a beautiful scene, but not nearly as beautiful as you."

Anistasia turned to Harry, wondering if she had heard him correctly.

"You know, Ani," Harry continued, "Once I laid eyes on you, on the train, I knew that you had to be mine. I thought that I would never have a chance with you. Well, now, I am here, going out on a limb, to see if you feel the same as I do and hoping that you'll be my girlfriend."

Anistasia was shocked by Harry's sudden confession of his feelings for her. They sat there, hovering over the lake. Harry began to get uneasy.

"Well, are you going to say anything?"

"Harry, I," Anistasia began, "I…I do have feelings for you. I do want to be your girlfriend. Yes, I would be honored."

Harry smiled as the two of them flew down to an abandoned area of the grounds.

"Lets go in there and dance," Anistasia said.

Harry escorted Anistasia into the Great Hall.

"This is the last song of the night, so grab your witch or wizard and apparate onto the dance floor," Brandon Boyd, the lead singer from Incubus, announced.

Ani and Harry walked into the middle of the dance floor. Ani put her arms around his neck and Harry put his arms around her waist. He held her close as Incubus began to play "Echo". Ani laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

~*There's something about the look in your eyes*~

~*Something I notice when the light is just right*~

After a moment, Harry looked down at Anistasia and said, "Look around and tell me who we are making jealous."

~*Could you show me dear*~

~*Something I'm not seeing*~

~*Something infinitely interesting*~

Without a moment's thought, Ani replied, "Everybody."

~*There's something about the way you move*~

~*I see your mouth in slow motion when you sing*~

~*More subtle than something someone contrives*~

~*Your movements echo that I have seen the real thing*~

As the song was ending and Harry and Anistasia looked into each other's eyes. Time seemed to stand still. In one swift movement, Harry's lips touched Anistasia's. Nothing seemed to move – nothing but them.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter 9 ~ Gryffindor vs. Slytherin: The Final Conflict

It was the morning before the huge Quidditch match against Slytherin and Harry was getting jumpy. It was the biggest game of his Quidditch career – the one that will determine whether he had done his job this season. Ani was sitting beside him at the table. She looked at him, worried, as he poked at his breakfast.

"Harry," she began quietly, "please eat something. You have been like this all week. I am worried about you – we all are."

Harry shook his head, and Oliver, who had heard what Ani said, patted Harry on the back.

"I remember my first championship as captain," he said, "It was against Ravenclaw. I was nervous about it from the time I found out Gryffindor was going to play in it. The night before the game, I hit rock bottom. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep – hell, I could hardly talk or hold myself up! The team carried me to the Hospital Wing and Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Pomfrey forced me to eat, settled me down and got me to sleep. Trust me Harry, it was a nightmare! You don't want to end up like me that night."

Harry looked up, "Did you win?"

"Is that all that matters," Oliver asked, but a glint in his eye told Harry that he had.

"Watch out!"

"Coming through!"

"Hey, Harry! Come help us with these!"

Harry turned to Ron, Fred and George and took a couple of boxes from them.

"Are these…" Harry began.

"Yup," Ron replied, opening one of the boxes.

Inside there were small quaffle shaped balls. Anistasia's face was printed on each of them, including her name and position. She picked one up and rolled it in between her fingers.

"So this is what you guys have been spending endless nights inventing…this is what you three made my boyfriend's time on when he could have been keeping me warm and safe ---"

"That, I need to hear no more of," Ron interrupted.

George smiled, "Don't look too flattered, Ani. You have to share the wealth with the rest of the team."

Six more boxes were opened, revealing small bouncy balls that sported the names and faces of the rest of the Gryffindor team. The Weasleys were in Bludgers, Harry on a Snitch and the three Chasers, like Ani, occupied Quaffles. By this time, most of the Gryffindor students and some students from both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had gathered around. Fred stepped up onto a bench and announced to the people around:

"The newest Wizard Wheezes from Three Weasleys and a Potter have arrived. Get your Gryffindor Quidditch Team bouncy balls and support your favorite player! Not only do these balls hold the image of your chosen player, but also when bounced on the floor, a quote, cheering on your team member is yelled! Get them while they last, only four sickles each!"

A mob of people began lining up. No sooner had the first ball been sold than the hall filled with a chorus of voices, cheering on the Gryffindors and bringing down the Slytherins.

"Alicia Spinnet scores! Ten more points to Gryffindor!"

"Beater Fred Weasley knocks a Bludger in Flint's direction…and it makes contact! Nice hit, Weasley!"

"Angelina Johnson ducks under Malfoy, weaves a pattern between the four Beaters on the field and shoots…SCORES!"

"Anistasia Willow, the newest team member, looks like a pro as she dives and swoops to block the Gryffindor hoops!"

"A Bludger is sent in Potter's direction, but George Weasley acts quickly – nice save!"

"Katie Bell catches a quick pass from Spinnet and glides effortlessly towards the Slytherin goals…"

"Harry Potter sees the Snitch…he dives…but no! He fakes Malfoy out with the Wronski Defensive Feint and Malfoy sprawls to the ground!"

The Great Hall filled with these voices and the Slytherin students' faces grew grave. Soon, all of the Wizard Wheezes had been sold, yet there was still a demand for more.

"To those of you who haven't received your fill," George began, "There will be more to sell at the game tomorrow. Just see Ron in the Gryffindor stands."

There were cheers and the students went to their proper table, bouncing the balls around the Slytherins as they went.  

  


"Come on, guys! Faster, smoother – lets move!"

Ani blocked another Quaffle as Harry was yelling commands at the Chasers. It was Sunday – the day before their final Quidditch match of the season. The team had been on the field since eleven (they had a strategy meeting from eight to ten). It was now two in the afternoon and Harry showed no signs of letting up.

"Weasleys! Hit those Bludgers harder! Let them have it! I want to see terror on Slytherin's face! Pure terror! Laura, don't make it so obvious where you are going to shoot. Run AF 3 again! Ani, don't let up. Be fierce! Be strong!"

For two more hours they worked, but Harry seemed not one bit satisfied.

"Alright. It is about four now. I want you back in the Common Room at six for a meeting and then we'll come back out at seven thirty."

The tem flew to the castle. Fred went to get everybody food while they collapsed in random places around the Common Room.

"Harry has gone Quidditch crazy," Katie said, "He is worse than Oliver. Ani, you have to do something."

"I cant," she explained, "There is more at stake in this game than just the Quidditch Cup. This game means everything to Harry and I will not say anything to ruin it for him."

"You mean the position on the All Star team," George asked, "Oh, you know he's got that spot already."

"He and Malfoy are almost tied in Seeker statistics ---"

"Angie, Malfoy is a moron. There is no way he is going to catch the Snitch tomorrow. Harry has been training all summer and all this year," George said, "The Snitch is Harry's best friend. It might even come to him when called. Look, my point is, I don't know what Harry's beef is. Nothing is going to get past Ani, Fred and I are going to let those Bludgers know who's boss and our Chasers are mad with those new attacks we've been practicing. Tomorrow's game will be perfect. We have nothing to worry about.

  


"Good morning, Quidditch fans, and welcome to the last game of the Hogwarts season. I regret to inform you that Professor McGonagall has a cold, so she will no be co-commentating with me. We hope you get better soon, Professor! Anywhoo, playing today for the Quidditch Cup are the defending champions in scarlet, Gryffindor, lead by Seeker Harry Potter, and in green, Slytherin, lead by Chaser Marcus Flint. Gryffindor has beaten the Slytherin team in the past three tournaments. Now that they have a new captain, is Gryffindor liable to defeat? Throughout the season, it hasn't been likely and today, there is no chance. Flint, you ought to pack up your team and leave the Pitch now because with Harry Potter, the youngest Seeker for a century and greatest of all time, leading the legendary Gryffindors, there is no way you are going to win," Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor seventh year and the accommodator, said.

Ani ran out onto the field beside Harry. She saw that he was nervous.

"Relax," she said to him, "Everything will be fine."

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks, love."

"I want a nice, clean game," Madam Hooch told both of the teams and pulled a golden galleon out of her pocket, "Flint, since your team is the underdog, I would like you to call it in the air."

She flipped the coin.

"Tails," Marcus called.

"It is heads. Harry, will you be receiving the Quaffle?"

Harry nodded.

"Slytherin lost the galleon toss – in your face, Flint – and Gryffindor shall be receiving the Quaffle," Lee announced.

The Gryffindor side cheered and Madam Hooch blew her whistle. A huge mass of scarlet and green rose into the air. The Bludgers and the Golden Snitch were released. A moment later, Madam Hooch released the Quaffle. Once Angela had possession of the Quaffle, the game was underway.

"Angela Johnson has the quaffle…she dodges Malfoy and sinks under the Bludger…passes it laterally to Katie Bell who swerves a little…jumps clear over Flint…goes for the shot…AND SCORES! GRYFFINDOR IS UP TEN TO NOTHING!"

Lee's last sentence was drowned out by the roaring of the Gryffindor crowd. Not five minutes had gone by and Gryffindor was already winning. Harry flew high above the game; Draco was right on his tail.

"Fred Weasley gets a hold of that Bludger and sends it flying…flying…HARRY WATCH OUT!!!"

By the time Harry ducked, it was already too late. The Bludger hit him and he went down and his broom with him.

"HARRY," Ani yelled as she almost slipped off the front of her broom, "TIME OUT! MADAM HOOCH, TIME OUT!"

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the Gryffindor team flew down to Harry.

"Assistant Captain Anistasia Willow calls for a two minute time out as her boyfriend and the Captain, Harry Potter, goes down after a Bludger that Fred Weasley hit knocked Harry off his broom."

As Lee was announcing what was happening, Ani fell to her knees beside Harry and stroked his forehead. As Fred landed, Ani looked up at him with flames in her eyes.

"You idiot," she screamed, coming to her feet and charging towards Fred, "You injured your own Seeker! Do you have any f---- "

"Willow looks like a beast as she tears up Weasley. Boy, she's going to let him have it. Things could get ugly between these two teammates," Lee said, enjoying the violence.

"Ani, I --- "

"No, don't even start apologizing," she yelled, grabbing his robes, "That won't do any good right now. Malfoy is going to catch the Snitch and Slytherin will win the game and the Cup. Do you have any idea what this is going to do to Harry? He has worked so hard for this – and his first year as Captain, too."

Ani pushed Fred to the ground. He looked up at her from his position on the ground as she chewed him out. 

"Willow has pushed the Beater to the ground and, yes, Angelina is pulling Ani away from Weasley."

"Ani, calm down," Angie whispered in Ani's ear, "You are making a scene."

"Ani pulls away from Angelina," Lee began, "It looks like…Anistasia is kneeling back down beside her unconscious boyfriend once again."

"Here's how it all stands – we don't have a Seeker and the only way a game can end, as we all know, is if a Seeker catches the Snitch. Nobody else can even touch the Snitch. Malfoy is still in the game. You know what we are going to do? Katie, lead the Chasers to do anything, and I mean, anything, in your power to get possession of the Quaffle, score and try to get possession again. I will keep Slytherin from scoring at all costs. Fred and George, do anything possible to keep Malfoy away from that Snitch. I want this game to go on as long as possible in the chance that Harry might wake up and be able to come back. Since our Beaters are going to be preoccupied, I need you guys, Chasers, to keep an eye out for those Bludgers. I can't risk another injury on this team. Understand? Good. Break! " 

"The team breaks from their circle around their fallen Seeker and take to the air. Anistasia gives Harry a gentle kiss on the forehead as Madam Pomfrey comes to take him off the field," Lee said, "It looks like Gryffindor is going to try to stay in the game."

Ani took her spot in front of the goals and watched what was happening. Fred and George kept a close eye on Malfoy as well as the Bludgers. The Chasers launched all of the attacks they had practiced the day before.

Hours went by. Anistasia didn't allow a Quaffle to pass through her goals and the Chasers were doing an unbelievable job scoring. The Weasleys were keeping an eye out for the Snitch, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Gryffindor scores another goal! The score is now twenty to two hundred twenty, Gryffindor's favor! Who needs a Seeker to win? Not Gryffindor, obviously, who looks unaffected by the loss of Captain and Seeker, Harry Potter! Willow isn't even breaking a sweat as the guards those goals. Oliver is intimidated, no doubt."

A faint smile spread across Oliver's face as he sat on the sidelines at this last comment. The game dragged on for quite some time. 

"Goal number seventeen for Gryffindor Chaser, Johnson this game," Lee was yelling above the cheers of the Gryffindor crowd, "That brings Gryffindor to three hundred sixty and Slytherin is trailing by twenty. I believe that this is the perfect time to recite the poem that Fred, George and I wrote Saturday during Potions. Their robes are green, they remind me of puke, Monday is the day their asses will be douched. Slytherin, you've come to your end! Gryffindor, I am sure we'll win…"

Laughter broke out in the Gryffindor stands while Slytherin booed at Lee's poem. Fred and George gave each other a high five and thumbs up to Lee. Despite everything that she had been feeling – nervous, anxious and fearful – a smile swept across Anistasia's face.

"Fred Weasley gets a hold of one of the Bludgers…it flies in the direction of the – OH, NO! ANISTASIA!"

Anistasia didn't see the Bludger, but the Quaffle that was thrown by Flint towards the goals. In one smooth motion, Ani dived for the Quaffle, but was hit by the Bludger and was knocked off her broom. Slytherin scored.

"Slytherin scores and Willow is down," Lee exclaimed, "She is moving and, yes, signals a time out. Fred, don't go near her. I am warning you."

The team flew down to her. 

"Where…is…FRED," she asked, through the pain of a broken arm and a sprained ankle.

"Staying as far away from you as possible," George answered.

"He is smart, though he has nothing to worry about – I cant walk, much less attack him…yet," Ani said, "Get him and bring him to me."

Katie pulled Fred over to the group; for a big, tough Beater, he looked awfully scared.

"Fred," Anistasia began slowly with a forced smile on her face, "Let me tell you a bit about Quidditch. A team consists of seven players – two Beaters, three Chasers, one Keeper and One Seeker. Do you know what happens to the team when you take away the Keeper and the Seeker?"

Fred nodded.

Ani continued, "A team can work with one Beater. A team can work with two Chasers. Team cannot work with only two beaters and three Chasers. Do you understand what I am getting at?"

Fred, again, nodded.

"Guys, you have to hold them now. I will try to summon my broom and get back into the air. Chasers, get the Quaffle. Take it from them at all costs. Beaters, hit the Bludgers like you have never hit them before. I swear, if you injure another one of our players, Fred ---"

"Don't worry, Ani. What's the probability of me hitting another one of our players?"

"Five out of twelve, and that is including yourself."

"Exactly," Fred exclaimed as Madam Hooch blew her whistle to signal the end of time out.

Madam Pomfrey walked over to Anistasia with a stretcher floating beside her, "Come, onto the stretcher. Lets get you to the hospital wing."

"No," Ani objected, "I want to stay. I am fine. I'll be up in the air in a minute. How is Harry?"

"Awake. His bones are mending."

"Can he come back?"

"He wants to, but I wont let him."

"Madam Pomfrey, we need him back," Anistasia told her, "We need to win this game."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head and gave Ani a potion to help her bones, "You can stay but I refuse to let Harry back out here." 

Anistasia leaned back against one of the goals as Slytherin scored, bringing them to forty. Ani winced as the potion kicked in. 

"Are you okay," Madam Pomfrey asked her.

"I'll be fine. This is an important game for Harry. You can't allow yourself to ruin it for him."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and left. Ani pulled out her wand.

"Accio Thunderclap!"

Her broom didn't come to her and Slytherin continued to score. Fifty…sixty…ninety…one hundred twenty. Gryffindor stayed at a solid three hundred sixty. The team was falling apart and Slytherin was moving in on their weaknesses. One hundred sixty…one hundred ninety…

"Accio Thunderclap," Anistasia screamed as she watched Slytherin reach two hundred points.

"The last three hours of the game have consisted of Slytherin gaining points. The Snitch has been spotted on several occasions, though Malfoy is waiting to make his move," Lee explained.

Anistasia had about given up on her broom as a figure swooped low above her head and landed beside her.

"Looking for this," Harry asked, smiling down at her.

Anistasia looked up at Harry, who was hovering above her, holding her Thunderclap in his hand. She nodded, mounted her broom and they both took to the air through a mass of excited yells.

"Bloody hell! The dominating duo is back in the air and looks determined to finish this game," Lee yelled, barely being heard over the noise of the Pitch, "It has been seven hours and two minutes since this game began and we know that Harry cant wait to finish it."

Ani looked towards the west. The sun was setting. 

"Harry, how much time do you think we have before nightfall," she asked.

"About five minutes," he answered.

"Do you think ---"

"Yes, I will catch the Snitch before then. No worries."

Anistasia took her post in front of the goals and waited. Gryffindor looked more hopeful. 

"The score is three hundred sixty to two hundred twenty, Gryffindor's favor. This is anybody's game. Slytherin trail by one hundred forty with three minutes left until night --- wait! Potter's got the Snitch!"

It all happened so quickly. Hardly anybody saw the Snitch enter Harry's hand. Though, he had it. Madam Hooch blew her whistle to end the game.

"After seven hours and four minutes, Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter ends the game, awarding his team with one hundred fifty more points," Lee announced, "The final score is Gryffindor, five hundred ten and Slytherin, two hundred twenty."

Harry landed upon the Pitch and the team, as well as the crowd, bombarded him. He broke through the crowd to Anistasia. With the Snitch in one hand, he reached out with the other and touched her face. She smiled up at him as he came closer. She embraced him as their lips joined together. To Gryffindor Tower they were carried where they partied the night away.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter 10 ~ The Holidays

It was the night before Christmas and all through Gryffindor House not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that the Owl Post would soon be there. The first years were nestled, all snug in their beds, while visions of Snape in a hot pink cloak danced in their heads. Ani was in her kerchief and Harry in his cap had just settled down for a long winters nap (in different rooms, mind you).

            Right before he had drifted off to sleep, Harry felt a rush of cold water hit him. He sat up and listened to the cackling laughs.

            "Peeves," he hissed, "If I ever find you ---"

            "That you won't, scar head, that you won't!"

            He flew away and Harry got out of bed, dripping wet. In his trunk, he found dry pajamas and walked down to the Common Room. Ani was down there, by the fire, wrapped in a blanket and from the looks of it, she had been drenched by Peeves as well.

            "Harry, was it ----"

            "Peeves," Harry said, "poured an entire bucket of water on me. Wait until I tell Dumbledore."

            "So, that is what that was," Anistasia exclaimed.

            Harry nodded, "Didn't you have any pajamas to change into?"

            "No, they are all being washed."

            "Wait here. I'll get you a pair of mine."

            Anistasia nodded as Harry ran up to his room. He came back with a pair of blue striped pajamas.

            "Here, change into these," Harry said.

            "Thank you," Anistasia replied.

            Harry turned his back while Anistasia changed out of her drenched nightgown into the pajamas. Then, Ani took the blanket and she and Harry wrapped up in it on the couch.

            "I am sorry. I got it a little wet," Anistasia told him.

            "Don't worry about it. Its fine," he assured her and kissed her on the cheek.

            Harry and Anistasia heard a small *pop*. Dobby appeared.

            "Eeep! Harry Potter is out of his bed – with a girl!"

            "No, Dobby, its not what you think ---"

            "Harry Potter and his girlfriend had best be getting back to their own beds, for their own good!"

            "But we cant, Dobby," Anistasia replied, "Peeves poured ice water in our beds."

            Dobby got an angry look on his face, "Dobby is outraged! Dobby apologizes to Harry Potter and his girlfriend."

            Dobby popped out and Harry sat up quickly.

            "Dobby, its okay! Dobby," Harry called quietly.

            He sat back and sighed just as Dobby reappeared carrying a tray with two mugs and a huge pot.

            "Dobby has brought Harry Potter and his girlfriend hot chocolate with marshmallows – all you can drink."

            "Thank you, Dobby," Ani replied, "By the way, my name is Anistasia Willow, but you may call me Ani."

            Dobby's face glowed, "Dobby is pleased to make your acquaintance, Anistasia Willow. Hmmm…Dobby thinks that this couch is a bit small for two people to sleep on. Me thinks Dobby will show you something.

            Dobby walked over to the wall beside the fireplace and began tapping on it. A moment later, part of the wall swung out and revealed a room. There was a four-poster, a couple of chairs and a bedside table. Ani and Harry entered the room. 

            "Goodnight," Dobby said, and popped out of sight.

            Harry closed the panel as Ani sat on the bed. Harry took a seat in one of the armchairs and sipped his cocoa. 

            "Sit on the bed," Anistasia pleaded.

            Harry put his hot chocolate on the table and sat next to her. She lie back on him as she wrapped his arms around her. The grandfather clock in the Common Room began chiming to indicate that another hour had begun. It chimed twelve times, signaling the stroke of midnight. 

            "Happy Christmas, Ani," Harry said.

            Anistasia looked up at him and smiled, "Happy Christmas, Harry."

            For the rest of the night, Harry held Ani in his arms while they talked of all the things to come.

  


            Harry opened his eyes. Morning sunlight was bouncing off of the white snow outside making the room bright. He breathed in the smell of Anistasia's silky hair – it smelled of yellow jasmine. As she slept, Harry kissed her gently on the lips. She slowly awoke and responded to the movements of Harry's lips on her's.

            "Morning, snow angel," Harry whispered.

            "Good morning love," Ani replied.

            "Shall we go down and get breakfast?"

            Ani nodded and the two of them emerged from the hidden room. Surprisingly, no one was in the Common Room opening presents. The two of them snuck up to their rooms to get dressed and met back down in the common room.

They entered the Great Hall and sat with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George.

"Ani, where were you this morning," Hermione asked, "I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Yeah, where did you run off to, Harry," Ron added.

"Harry and I were in the library," Ani answered quickly before Harry could say anything, "We wanted to look more for the 'OP' abbreviation that we have been working so diligently to find."

"Did you have any luck," Ron asked.

"None whatsoever."

Ron nodded and continued to eat.

"We didn't open presents yet," Fred, informed them, "We wanted to wait for you. So, eat quickly! You have put us behind schedule!"

Hermione scowled, "Fred, relax. The presents aren't going to grow feet and run away."

"I bet your parents taught you that," Ron said.

"Yeah, they did. Why?"

"Well, they are Muggles and Muggles don't know that, in this world, anything can happen."

Fred got a scared look on his face.

"If you want to, we can take some of this back to the Common Room," Ani said, "We wouldn't want to ruin your schedule, whatever that may be."

Fred picked up half of a pumpkin pie and a basket of cinnamon sugar croissants and shooed his brothers and friends to the Common Room.

They took down their stockings and sorted their presents. There was merry chat and the sounds of the Ghost Choir as they unwrapped the gifts. Harry was just about to open Anistasia's gift when she began laughing.

"What's so funny," Harry asked.

Anistasia was holding her present from Harry in her hand and saw that he was about to open her present, "Go on, open it."

Once he unwrapped it, he realized what was so funny. They both had gotten each other the book, Europe Quidditch – the Teams and Players over the 19th Century. 

"Thank you, Harry," Ani said, smiling and kissed him.

Harry couldn't reply because his lips were a tiny bit busy. In their stockings, everyone got Wizard Wheezes from Three Weasleys and a Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch Flags, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, ink, quills and other assorted candies and gifts.

"Hey, its pretty nice outside," Ginny began, "Lets go play in the snow!"

"Come on, Ginny, that is so childish," George said.

Ani saw the disappointment on her face, "Well, I think it is a grand idea. I'll go play in the snow with you, Ginny. Are you coming Harry?"

Harry nodded and Ron agreed to come as well. 

"All right, but be back soon so we can keep looking," Hermione ordered.

The four of them ran out to the front courtyard. When she was least expecting it, Harry balled up a snowball and launched it at Anistasia. She laughed and scooped up as much snow as she could and threw it back at him. The two of them chased each other, flinging snowball after snowball, until Ani ran up behind him and tackled him. They wrestled around in the snow for a time, laughing and screaming. Ani stumbled to her feet and began running.

"You'll never pin me, Harry Potter," she exclaimed, taunting him.

The expression on his face went from happy to determined, "That's what you think, Anistasia Willow!"

He chased her as she ran away from him, giggling. Finally, he took her down from behind and Ani struggled against him. However, it was no use. He was much stronger than she and ended up pinning her.

"I have you right where I want you," he whispered in her ear, "and now I am going to eat you."

"I hope you do, Mr. Potter," Anistasia whispered back mysteriously.

Harry laughed slightly. He could hear her soft breathing and feel her warm breath in his ear as he rested his head on her shoulder. She took one gloved hand from under his and placed it upon his cheek. Anistasia guided his head until his green eyes were looking into her's. Anistasia looked deeply into his eyes – into the windows of his soul. Indeed, she saw something. Something that was so indescribably evil that she couldn't move. Harry began to notice her trembling.

"Are you okay," he asked her.

"I am fine," she managed to whisper, "Just a little cold."

"Does this help any?"

Harry cradled her head in his right hand and slowly lowered his face to her's. As his lips touched her's, Ani closed her eyes and allowed Harry to whisk away the terror that she had felt just a moment ago. 

Harry pulled away and smiled, "Warmer?"

Anistasia nodded and he helped her to her feet. Together, they walked up to the Common Room. There, they stripped off their wet coats, hats, gloves and scarves beside the fire. As they collapsed on the couch, Hermione walked in.

"Good, you're here," she said, tossing a book into each of their laps, "You know what to do. Fred has gone to get us something to eat, so you can't weasel out of this to go get lunch."

The three of them silently looked through the books. Fred came back with lunch (pizza, hot chocolate and a cheesecake). They continued to look. They went through book after book, failure after failure. Ron walked in a bit later and joined them. Near three o'clock, Harry was sleeping, Hermione had taken a break and Ron had Ginny bail him out. Anistasia was the only person left looking when Hermione walked in a few minutes later.

"No luck," she asked.

Anistasia sighed, "Not a bloody – wait, what's this," she ran her finger down the page she was looking at quickly as the expression on her face grew brighter, "Oh my…"

"What," Hermione asked, "WHAT?"

"Look at this."

Anistasia turned the book around so Hermione could read.

The Order of the Phoenix – "OP" 

This order is very secretive. Not much is known about this group except that it consists of twelve wizards chosen by the Phoenix to protect the Source and to fight against the Dark Lord. It is said that the Source is the only object standing between the Dark Lord and his goal to take over the world. He is determined to destroy it at all costs, as the Order is destined to protect it.

After a moment of reading, Hermione spoke.

"Do you think," she asked, looking at Harry.

Ani shook her head, "I know – it's got to be Harry."

"Do you think he has any idea?"

"No, and we cant tell him. He would completely freak out. We can't let him know."

"He will find out," Hermione told her, "We can't keep anything from him. He will realize that something is up if we keep telling him that we never found out what 'OP' means."

"Better later," Ani said as she closed the book, "Take this back to the library and make sure Harry nor Ron ever sees this. It is our little secret."

Hermione nodded and left as Ani scooted over towards Harry. She gently brushed the hair out of his eyes and laid her head on his stomach.

"Don't worry, Harry," she whispered, "Nothing will happen to you."

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11 ~ The All-Star Team

"Good morning, Love," Anistasia said, kissing Harry on the cheek and sitting beside him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Love," Harry replied, handing her a pink rose and a heart shaped box of candy.

It is the morning of February the fourteenth – Valentine's Day. The posse was sitting at breakfast in the Great Hall, which was decked out in red and white. Pink rose petals covered the floor.

"God, things haven't been this snazzy since Lockhart was here," Ron said, shivering.

"Wait…Gilderoy Lockhart," Ani gasped, "Oh, he is so wonderful ---"

Hermione stuffed a cream cheese bagel in Ani's mouth, "Stop there. He's a wonderful liar, that's exactly what he was."

Ron laughed, "I do recall a time when a certain person I know kept a get well card, signed by him, under her pillow…"

Hermione couldn't reply before Professor McGonagall tapped on the side of her glass. Dumbledore stood.

"I would like to wish you all a wonderful Valentine's Day. I would also like to announce that after careful consideration, the Hogwarts All Star Quidditch Team has been formed. The names of the team members will be posted in the entrance hall at noon. That is all."

Harry looked over at Anistasia, "Bloody hell! I'll never be able to wait that long…ooh, cream cheese…"

Harry licked the cream cheese of Anistasia's nose as Ani, in complete awe, told him, "Don't worry, Harry. All we have to do is survive Potions and Horticulture…and what is up with your tongue? Its like, crazy!"

Harry backed away and laughed, "It is going to be a long day."

The bell rang and they trotted off to Potions. As the last of the class was sitting down, Professor Wall emerged from her office.

"Good morning everyone," she exclaimed, "Today we are going to begin a month long project. It was requested by Professor McGonagall that we do this considering you are learning about transfiguring yourselves. We are going to begin making Polyjuice Potion."

Harry smiled and turned back to Ron and Hermione. They had successfully brewed a batch of this potion in their second year in order to transform themselves into Crabe and Goyle to try to weasel the name of the Heir of Slytherin out of Malfoy.

"With this potion," Wall continued to explain, "you will have the ability to transform yourself into a single person for an hour. I must emphasize that this potion is for human transformation only and if used to transform into a different object, it can have devastating results. At the end of this potion making process, you and your partner will trade a single hair and transform into each other."

Ani smiled at Harry. She wondered what it would be like to be Harry James Potter, even for only an hour. In one month's time, she would know. Professor Wall helped the class begin their potions.

"NEVILLE," Professor Wall screeched as hot liquid rapidly covered the dungeon floor beneath her, "That is the sixth cauldron that you have melted this year!"

"Sixth cauldron? My, my, that would be number thirty seven since the time you began at Hogwarts, would it not, Mr. Longbottom?"

Harry gasped at the sound of the familiar voice. He turned towards the door to see the towering figure walk into the room. His long, black robes swept behind him, his hooked nose was up in the air and his pale skin was more pale than Harry could remember.

Severus Snape swept into the dungeon, up to Professor Wall and bowed to her deeply, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Severus Snape, Potions Master. You are, my dear?"

Professor Wall was taken back by the dark, velvet sound of his voice, "I am Lauren Wall. A pleasure it is to meet you."

Snape turned to Neville, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

He blinked and looked up at his teacher, "I refuse to say a word."

Snape scowled, "Twenty points from Gryffindor for absentmindedly melting a school cauldron and ten more points for your smart mouth towards a teacher."

Neville kept his head held high. No one seemed to care how many points were taken – they were just in complete awe that Neville stood up to Snape. Harry took out a piece of parchment, his ink that he had gotten from Hermione on his birthday and wrote Ron a note. He said the password and the ink went invisible. He was passing it to Ron when Snape looked over and saw it.

"Well, well, well," he said, picking up the roll and opening it, "What might we have here? A love note from Potter to Weasley maybe?"

"That would be thoroughly impossible, Professor, seeing as how I am Harry's one and only," Ani said, speaking up.

Snape sneered, "You must be Anistasia Willow, the new fifth year. Potter seemed to jump quickly at you did he not? No matter, let us see what this says," he looked down at the parchment and saw that it was blank, "Ah, this must be the new disappearing ink…let us find the password," he pulled out his wand, "Show me what you hide!"

As predicted, a stream of ink came out of the paper and hit Snape in the eye. He dropped both the paper and his wand and held his eye. With the other, he looked evilly at Harry and the other Gryffindors, who were trying hard not to laugh. Snape picked up the parchment, threw it at Harry and stomped away into his office. 

 On their way to horticulture, all of the Gryffindors congratulated him and Neville for making Snape's welcoming hell.

"So, that is Snape," Anistasia asked Harry after she had patted Neville on the back.

"Yes," Harry said glumly, "and I cannot believe that he is back…why…why?"

"Don't worry about it. Just think of the All Star team."

Harry's face brightened a bit. Horticulture was so long to him – he could hardly sit still. Once the bell rang, he and Anistasia ran up to the castle as quickly as they could. There, in the entrance hall, was a group of students crowded around a piece of parchment hung on the wall."

"Congratulations, Harry," Katie said, patting him on the shoulder, "Well, congrats for the most part."

"What do you mean," Harry asked her.

"Try to get up to the list. Then, you'll know."

Harry and Anistasia pushed up to the front of the group. This is what the list said:

Hogwarts All Star Quidditch Team 

Captain: Harry Potter (Gryffindor)

Asst. Captain: Marcus Flint (Slytherin)

First String 

Seeker: Harry Potter (Gryffindor)

Keeper: Anistasia Willow (Gryffindor)

Head Chaser: Marcus Flint (Slytherin) 

Second Chaser: Angelina Johnson (Gryffindor)

Third Chaser: Adrian Pucey (Slytherin)

Head Beater: George Weasley (Gryffindor)

Second Beater: Derrick Bole (Slytherin)

Second String 

Seeker: Draco Malfoy (Slytherin)

First Chaser: Katie Bell (Gryffindor)

Second Chaser: Bradford Montague (Slytherin)

Beater: Fred Weasley (Gryffindor)

"Harry," Anistasia exclaimed, "You're the captain!"

"Yes, though, I have to work with Flint. You're the Keeper! Congratulations!"

Ani smiled as Harry put his arm around her waist. They walked into the Great Hall together. Dumbledore was in there, waiting to greet them.

"Congratulations, my dears," he said handing them a roll of parchment, "I hope you enjoy your experience on the team."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Ani said.

They went to the Gryffindor table and unrolled their letters. Harry's said:

Mr. Potter,

Congratulations on making the Hogwarts All Star Quidditch Team. You have been awarded with both Captain and Seeker positions. I am sure that you will manage the team and represent your school well.

The Assistant Captain is Marcus Flint, the Captain and Chaser of the Slytherin team. You both should meet at least once a week to discuss how to manage the team and to work practices. You are the one to finalize the decisions for the team.

If, for any reason, you are injured or unable to play, Draco Malfoy will take your position as Seeker. 

Here is a list of games that will be played:

2/22 – Hogwarts vs. Beauxbatons 

2/23 – Hogwarts vs. Beauxbatons 

           *2/24 – Hogwarts vs. Beauxbatons 

            3/8 – Hogwarts @ South Gravewitch

            3/9 – Hogwarts @ South Gravewitch

           *3/10 – Hogwarts @ South Gravewitch

            3/15 – Hogwarts vs. Durmstrang

            3/16 – Hogwarts vs. Durmstrang

           *3/17 – Hogwarts vs. Durmstrang

*The third game of every tournament will only be played if both teams have won each one game.

After this series of tournaments, further tournaments will be played, and then sometime in May, championships will be played to award the Minor League Quidditch World Cup.

Please note that you are responsible for making up any work that you missed due to your dedications to the team. Being on this team is an honor – an honor that not many people can say that they have been a part of. Good luck, and God speed.

Again, congratulations,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry rolled up his letter and stuck it into the pocket of his robes.

"Excuse me," he said to his friends and walked over to the Slytherin table.

He spotted Flint and walked over to him.

"Congratulations," Harry told him.

Flint faced him and grumbled, "Same to you."

"Since we have to work as a team to make this work and win the Cup for our school, I would like to ask you if we can put our differences aside, at least until this is over, and call a truce."

Flint stood up and faced Harry, "Yes, I suppose so."

In front of the entire Great Hall and Dumbledore himself, a truce was called between Slytherin and Gryffindor, for the first time in over a thousand years.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter 12 ~ The Meeting

"So, practice tomorrow at ten am to twelve, then again at two to five," Harry confirmed with Flint as they sat in the library the next night, working up a practice schedule, "Then, practice again on Monday night at seven thirty."

"That sounds alright to me," Marcus agreed, "The tournament is this Saturday. As much practice as possible is needed. God knows that the Gryffindor team has some work to be doing."

Harry looked at him, ready to shoot an insult back, but found that Flint was grinning, gesturing that he had made a joke. Harry smiled and got back to business.

"I'll talk to Professor Sinistra to allow Anistasia, Malfoy and I out of Astronomy on Tuesday and Thursday. All the rest of the upper classmen don't have anything after dinner. If the three of us can't get out, you'll have to run a practice without us. That means we'll have practice as well on Tuesday through Thursday beginning at seven thirty. You'll have to fill me in on what you got accomplished. Friday should be left free so the team can rest up. In addition, Durmstrang will be arriving that night. We don't want to be rude guests, nor do we want them to see what we are made of until game time."

Marcus nodded, "I'll inform the Slytherin players of our plans. All we need now is a plan for practice."

"I'll write that up tonight and give it to you during breakfast in the morning," Harry informed him.

Harry and Marcus gathered their stuff, walked out of the library and went their separate ways to their houses.

  


It was Monday night and the All Star team was on the Pitch, practicing hard. It was almost ten. The only light that was being received was the light of the flames of the torches located along the sidelines of the Pitch. Surprisingly enough, not one person on the team was arguing with another.

"Hey, Harry, dont you think its about time to end practice," Marcus asked.

"Um…yeah. Guys, we have to wrap it up. We all have class tomorrow and Dumbledore will have a fit if he knew we were out this late!"

The team left as Harry and Anistasia put out the torches, then began flying off towards the castle.

"Harry, look," Ani said, pointing towards the Forbidden Forest.

There was light coming out from the breaks in the treetops.

"Lets go investigate."

Harry led Anistasia over the dim, orange light. The Thunderclaps glided silently across the night sky.

"Can you see what's down there," Anistasia asked, gliding to a stop beside her boyfriend.

"Not much…I can see figures moving."

"We have to find a way to get down there…"

Harry grinned, "Wait right here…I'll be right back."

He flew away, leaving Ani to wonder what he was doing.

"In a few moments, Hermione is going to summon your broom. If you want to know what's happening in the forest, I would advise you to hop on."

Anistasia jumped and looked around, "Harry? Where are you? I can't see you."

Harry's head emerged in the night sky, "I am under an invisibility cloak. Fly as close as possible and try to mount the broom."

"Are you sure I wont fall through…?"

"Yes, I am sure."

Anistasia began moving herself from her broom to Harry's. She grabbed onto Harry's invisible waist and swung one leg over his invisible broom. Once she was safely on, Harry gave her some of the cloak to put over herself.

"Harry," she whispered, "I can't see either of us!"

"Yeah…this would make sex a whole lot more interesting, don't you think?"

After a long pause, Ani replied, "Yes, Harry, if you say so."

They flew down into the forest, making sure that they didn't hit any branches on their way down. Coming closer, they saw twelve wizards surrounding a fire. Harry recognized all of them except for one. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Lupin were among them as well as Arbella Figg, Carol Jane Roberts, Sybill Trelawney, Sirius Black, Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody and Snape was sitting with Professor Wall in his arms (a surprising and terrible sight to Ani and Harry). The last one was female and tall with black hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Hey, do you know what witch beside Roberts," Harry asked Ani.

"Um…maybe…hold – holy crap! That is my mother, Katrina Willow!"

The duo sat quietly listening to the meeting.

"…to fight. We can't let him take the child. If he does, both the Muggle and the Wizarding worlds are doomed," Dumbledore was saying.

"Albus, I know what you are aware that there are twelve of us and almost four times more of them," Wall brought up, "How are we to fight? It's almost four or more against one. Shouldn't we recruit more ---"

Dumbledore shook his head; "There is no time to fit other wizards into our circle. We are as powerful now divided as we are united. If we added another member, it would take too much time to re-direct our powers and building them up again. We would never reach the strength we are at now," the group nodded in agreement and Dumbledore continued, "With Harry on the All Star Team, he will be traveling to America in a couple of weeks. There is no way I can deny him the right to go unless signs of Voldemort's arrival become to frequent. If I allow him to go, we must all be on our guard. Who is going and who is not?"

"I, as well as Carol Jane will be going to America," Wall replied.

Professor Roberts nodded, "Katrina will be taking over my classes throughout that entire weekend."

"I will be going to watch the boys," Arthur said.

"As well as I," Sirius added.

"I must stay home that weekend – full moon," Remus said.

"I must make sure that Privet Drive is safe," Arbella explained to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded, "I will be flying to and from America so I can keep an eye on both Harry and Hogwarts. I might also stop by Privet Drive as well. We are split in about half and half. Severus, I trust you know what you have to do. Is there anything else we should discuss?"

The group looked around and shook their heads.

"Meeting dismissed."

The group began freely talking to each other as Harry directed his broom and flew he and Anistasia towards Gryffindor Tower. They reached the Common Room window and tapped on it. Hermione went to the open window and opened it. Harry and Ani flew in.

"What was it? What did you find out," Hermione asked.

Harry silently walked away from his hovering broom and the two girls as he sat on the couch. Hermione looked at Anistasia with a terrible look in her eyes. Ani couldn't meet those eyes. She could only walk over to Harry and sit beside him. Harry buried his face, covered in tears, into her shoulder. Hermione walked over and sat in an armchair beside the fire. Ani looked up at her, knowing what he first question would be.

"Yes, Hermione. We saw the Order of the Phoenix."

Harry lifted his head, "What did you say? The Order of the Phoenix?"

Ani nodded, "That is what 'OP' stands for. Hermione and I found it in one of the books over the holidays while you were sleeping on the couch. We vowed not to let you know because it would hurt you like it is hurting you now. I am telling you what I found out now because you know what Dumbledore is head of. You must know what danger you are in. You are the only thing that stands between Voldemort and the end of the world. He will do anything to get rid of you and I…I cant let it happen to you."

Harry stood quickly, "Stop, just stop! Look, I can't take all of this! Do you have any idea what I have gone through in the past year? What I have gone through my entire life? Now I am some key to the end of the world?"

Tears began streaming down Ani's face, "Harry, stop. Calm down…please, just come here…"

She wrapped her arms around him and they both cried. They cried out of fear for tomorrow. They cried out of fear for the future. The cried in the despair and anguish that hadn't yet come…though, most of all, they cried for each other.

At that same time in the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore sat behind his desk, thinking. Suddenly, he looked to the phoenix perch. There was a gleam of seriousness in his eyes and an even sharper, more define tone of seriousness in his voice when he spoke.

"Fawkes," he called to the phoenix, sitting on its perch, "times are changing now with Voldemort growing stronger by the day. I cannot predict when he will begin to strike, but I must ask you to go. Fly off to Mount Sapphire. It is morphing time. The Order needs their last and strongest member to return to them."

Fawkes nudged Dumbledore's hand lovingly, blinked and, as he turned, flew away. Dumbledore leaned back and sighed.

"Harry has no idea how important he is," he mumbled to himself.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13 ~ The Arrival of Beauxbaton

It is the night of February 22. Harry and Ani were in the Common Room, waiting for the time to come when they were to descend to the ground floor and out to the front courtyard of Hogwarts to greet the Beauxbaton Quidditch team. Hedwig flew in, holding a roll of parchment. Another owl followed her. Harry took the parchment from Hedwig and Ani from the other owl. Harry pulled out his wand.

"Padfoot and Prongs Jr."

Ink appeared on the parchment. This is what it read:

Dear Harry,

Congratulations on making the All Star team. That is wonderful. I am so proud. I will be at the tournaments, in my animagus form, of course. I want you to be looking after yourself. The times are very dangerous and you can't be caught off guard. Please be careful, my son.

                                                            With all of my love,

                                                                        Sirius

Harry rolled the parchment, planning to write him later. Ani was still reading her's, but she didn't fail to tell him exactly what was going on once she was done.

"That was my mother," she began, "She told me that she is proud of me for making the All Star team and she will be here for the tournament. She says she can't wait to meet you. She also told me that she will be here, filling in for Professor Roberts on the weekend we go to America."

Harry nodded, "Sirius is going to be here this weekend as well," he looked at the Grandfather Clock sitting in one corner of the room, "I think it's about time we get down to the Entrance Hall."

Anistasia nodded and they grabbed their brooms and headed down. Their Thunderclaps had been personalized with their name, Hogwarts Quidditch and their positions. Harry and Draco put some money together and bought the entire team Thunderclap 2003s. The two of them walked out into the front of Hogwarts and saw their team, dressed in the new Hogwarts Quidditch robes. They were black silk with a navy blue inside and the Hogwarts crest was over their left chest. Harry made his way to the front of the group, where Marcus stood as they awaited the arrival of Beauxbaton.

Just before Ani fell asleep standing up, a boat emerged from the lake. It was, undoubtedly, the arrival of Beauxbaton. A plank extended from the door of the boat and fourteen people stepped off of it. First two were their coach and their headmaster. Harry noticed that it wasn't Karkaroff, but someone else. The last twelve of them were Quidditch players; they were dressed head to toe in coats, scarves, hats and gloves. They had small duffle bags of clothes and cases slung over their shoulders, no doubt carrying their brooms. Once they were all off, they placed their stuff in a pile on the snowy ground and assembled in front of the Hogwarts team. The captain stood in front of his team. He was short for a seventeen year old with hazel eyes, thin lips and a hooked nose. Harry stepped forward.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said, "I am Harry Potter, captain and Seeker of the Quidditch team. This is Marcus Flint, the assistant captain and Head Chaser." 

"I am Bryan Kei, but everyone calls me Stryker," the captain of Durmstrang's team replied, "I am also Seeker of this team. It is nice to meet you."

The two of them shook hands and Professor Dumbledore stepped up.

"I see that you have met each other. Mr. Kei, I am honored to welcome you and your team to my school. You shall be residing in Gryffindor Tower, with Harry and most of the team. I am sure that he and Ms. Willow would be more than happy to show you to your rooms."

Harry nodded. While the rest of the team went and prepared for dinner, Anistasia and Harry helped the Durmstrang team with their stuff and showed them to Gryffindor Tower.

"Ani! I knew you'd be here," Stryker exclaimed, hugging her tightly, "I just knew you'd be on this team. They'd be crazy not to pick you."

Ani smiled, "What can I say? You taught me everything I know."

"That is why I am so scared to try to score on you tomorrow."

"Scared of me," she asked, looking at him, "Whoa, buddy, not me! You should be scared of Harry. He and the Snitch have some sort of relationship he's not telling me about."

Harry blushed; Stryker laughed, "Is Harry your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Anistasia answered as they walked down the corridors, "Watch out…the steps move and disappear."

Stryker nodded and looked at Harry, "You must be a good man, Harry. This girl wouldn't choose just anybody to call her love. Boy, she had guys all over her at Beauxbaton ---"

"Bryan, shut up!"

"--- but nope, she refused most of all of them."

"Lemon pansy drops," Anistasia said to the Fat Lady and the portrait hole opened, "Here we are."

"Harry, let me tell you something," Stryker said, pulling Harry close, "Anistasia is like my sister. If you hurt my sister, I will hurt you."

Harry looked a bit scared, but Stryker laughed and patted him on the back. They entered the Common Room.

"This is the Gryffindor Common Room," Anistasia announced, "Please remember the password to the house so you'll be able to get back in. The girls' dorms are up the stairs and to your right and the boys' are the same to the left. The girls will be rooming with me and the guys are with Harry. If you have any questions or need anything, please ask us. Again, welcome, and we hope you enjoy your stay. Dinner will begin in twenty minutes."

Ani thought that she would be able to poke her head into Transfiguration before dinner, but this wasn't the case. Her former teammates walked over and greeted her.

"Hey, Ani," Rachel, the Keeper, said, "Wow, I love those robes!"

"Thank you," she replied.

"Anistasia, please tell me all of those brooms you were holding weren't Thunderclaps," the Chaser, Tony, begged.

Ani nodded, "They were."

"We are going to be torn up tomorrow," Julie exclaimed.

"You'll do fine," Ani assured her, "You have a great team put together."

"Yeah, you'll say that, but you wont tell us that we'll win, will you?"

"Yell, Stryker, I don't know if you'll win. It just matters who catches the Snitch, doesn't it?"

Anistasia looked over at Harry and smiled. Soon, the bell rang for dinner and Anistasia lead the team to the Entrance Hall. Once the rest of the Hogwarts team appeared, they entered the Great Hall. Silence overcame the Hall as they sat down at a fifth table; parallel the Head table and perpendicular to the house tables, which had both a Hogwarts and Beauxbaton Coat of Arms hanging above it. The headmaster stood.

"May I have your attention please?"

The already silent hall turned their attention from the Quidditch teams to the head table. In addition to all of the same faces, the new headmaster of Beauxbaton was sitting on one side of Dumbledore and the Beauxbaton Quidditch coach sat next to Madam Hooch.

"I would like to welcome Beauxbaton back, once again, and their new Headmaster, Darren Hayes, who sent their Quidditch team to play with Hogwarts this weekend."

Dumbledore's announcement made it sound like Beauxbaton was here there for a small, friendly play date. Nothing in his voice suggested that a rough, action packed, no mercy Quidditch match was about to take place the following afternoon.

"I would also like to remind all teachers and team members that the Quidditch team is exempt from all classes on Saturday afternoon and possibly Monday, though they are required to make up all work missed by Wednesday. Classes will let out at two in the afternoon tomorrow as to allow everyone to view the Quidditch match if so desired. Again, I would like to welcome the Beauxbatons Quidditch team, Monsieur Hayes and Madam Miles and encourage them to make themselves at home."

Professor Dumbledore sat as applause filled the Hall. It ceased quickly as food filled the plates.

"This is quite the set up you have here," Stryker said to Harry, who was sitting across from him, "This castle looks nothing like Beauxbaton. I wish you could come visit us sometime."

"If we reach the final tournaments, we probably will," Harry replied.

"So, do you care to join us in class tomorrow morning," Ani asked, "We have Potions with Slytherin and Divination with Hufflepuff."

"Slytherin and Hufflepuff," Tony asked, confused.

"Oh, right. You don't know," Ani exclaimed, "How stupid of me! Over a thousand years ago, four wizards came together to create this school. Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. They each created a house that students would be sorted into, each with their certain preferences. Godric Gryffindor gave his hat and each creator put the certain requirements into the hat, now called the Sorting Hat. Each new student must put on the hat and it tells you which one of the four houses you will be placed into. I was sorted into Gryffindor. Harry, Angelina our Chaser and Fred our Beater are in Gryffindor as well. Marcus, Adrian a Chaser and Derrick a Beater are from Slytherin. Slytherin and Gryffindor were known as enemies until Harry and Marcus called a truce. Made history, the two of them did."

Stryker smiled, "History, yeah. That's what Beauxbaton needs. Brilliantly dull school if you ask me."

"That's not Fleur Delacour was saying about it last year," Harry said.

Stryker shook his head, "You can't listen to her, Harry. She is as egotistic as they come. In addition to being half veela and all…I was one of the only guys not under her terrible spell. She and Anistasia hated each other. Fleur couldn't stand the fact that Ani had all these guys hung up on her – 'and ze iznt even part veela' she used to say. They were the heartthrobs of the school. Now they are both gone and our school is stuck. Not a pretty girl in sight." 

They talked for a long time about this and that: Quidditch, school, teachers, girls, guys, friends and things. Ani, Harry and Stryker sat up long into the night on the Common Room couch catching up on old stuff and talking about new stuff. It was nearly three in the morning before the three of them retired.

The entire school seemed still and quiet as Harry drifted off to sleep. Little did he know, there was a secret meeting taking place in the Dark Forest. The Order had been sitting around a dim fire for almost five hours now, waiting for the thirteenth and final member of their group.

"Are you sure that we should be expecting this member to show up tonight? We have been waiting for him or her for several hours now," Remus asked as he leaned against a nearby tree.

Dumbledore stood, unmoving, next to the fire, "I feel that he is very close, yes."

The other Order members were around, staying within the circle of light that covered the clearing floor. Snape and Wall sat on the very edge of this light, far from everyone else.

"Severus," Wall whispered quietly to him as he held her in his arms, "you have no idea how worried you make me every time you have to leave to meet with Voldemort."

Snape held her tighter to make her feel more secure, "Whatever could worry you? I am a grown man and can take care of myself."

"I am afraid that Voldemort will discover your loyalties to Dumbledore and…I am afraid that, on the day that you leave, it will be the last time I see you."

"No, Lauren, do not think about that. Albus and I have everything well planned. Nothing could happen to me."

"Are you sure? Do you promise?"

Her last words were sharp and urgent. Snape took his chin and placed it on her shoulder. Wall leaned her head against his as he spoke. The dark, velvet words gave her assurance and peace.

"I promise you, my love, that nothing will keep me from coming back to you."

Wall smiled and relaxed, and sunk into Snape's warm, protective arms. Not five minutes passed before Dumbledore called the group together.

"He is about to arrive."

The Order formed a circle around the fire that was now quickly and rapidly blazing. Overhead, a small ways in the distance, there was a shrill cry…the cry of the phoenix. Fawkes soon came appeared in the sky, just a few feet above their heads. The large, crimson bird landed on Albus' shoulder.

"Fawkes," he spoke softly, "you have completed your mission at Mount Sapphire. Now, we must see if you did your job correctly. Return to us and complete the Order."

Fawkes blinked once and, without warning, dove into the fire. The members of the Order raised their arms at their sides and joined their palms. The song of the phoenix filled the night air, sad and mysterious. A whirlwind of air picked up around the Order as they stared into the fire. After a moment, the fire began to fade away and smolder. Then, there was nothing but smoke.

"Oh, Fawkes…" Dumbledore mumbled, shaking his head.

"He didn't fail…did he," Katrina asked.

"I am afraid so," he replied, looking sorrowfully into the smoking ashes.

Before Albus was able to dismiss the meeting, the fire spontaneously started again. A smile spread across his face and the Order reassembled around it. A figure could be seen, rising up from the mist of the fire – from within the flame. Anxiety swept across the faces of some of the members as they waited to know the identity of the figure. They didn't have to wait long, however, for it didn't take long for the figure to complete its transformation and step out of the fire. He was tall and handsome and had black hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail. The fire reflected in his blue eyes the faces of some of the mystified witches and wizards and hinted that he had a playful and creative personality. His robes were crimson with bronze trim, like the feathers of the bird that he had just risen from. Dumbledore stepped forward and bowed deeply to him. Then, he turned to the Order, smiling like he had never done so before.

"I am pleased to finally be able to introduce to you all the final member of the Order and the one who picked all of you to be a part of this group. This, my friends and colleagues, is Godric Gryffindor."

The night was completely silent and still as though the trees themselves couldn't believe whom it was who was standing there.

"How…"

The sound of Sybil's voice broke through the silence and some of the Order jumped as though they had been scared out of their thoughts. Her incomplete question was given no reply. Silence once again rested upon the Order as they searched for the right words to say. For the first time, Gryffindor spoke.

"You all seem surprised to see me."

A broad smile spread across Godric's face – a broad smile.

"Gryffindor, you have been Fawkes this entire time," Arthur asked.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley, that I have. For the past nine hundred and seventy two years, I have been Fawkes, the phoenix. I have lived, burst into flame and have been reborn from the ashes time and time again. I have failed to age a day in human years, I being thirty eight, because I was transformed into a phoenix through a special process. I have seen Headmasters, students and teachers come and go, and I have seen evil – an evil that I didn't think any human being could be responsible for. In 1989, the key was born, and I knew that this world, both Muggle and Wizarding, were doomed if I failed to act. Therefore, I established this Order to protect the child and the world from the wrath of Voldemort."

The Order was silent. Seeing that nothing was left to be said, Dumbledore adjourned the meeting.

"Mr. Gryffindor," Dumbledore said to the man, "I am privileged to have you here in your human form. Let us go up to the castle. We have several things to speak about."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14 ~ Potions and Predictions

"Wonderful! You're all here!"

Anistasia sat at the Quidditch table and pulled a warm bagel onto her plate.

"Good morning," Stryker greeted her, "Of course we are. None of us wanted to miss our first lesson with a former Death Eater."

Ani, for the first time ever, glowered at him; a couple of the Slytherins rose from their seats in anger, "Watch what you say around here, boyo. You will be cursed for saying fuck like that. Professor Snape is a respected teacher – not very well-liked by the Gryffindors, but we respect him."

"I am sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect by it."

Anistasia motioned for the Slytherins to sit and spread cream cheese on her bagel and let it go. Harry walked up a moment later and kissed her on the cheek.

"Morning, Love," he said, sitting down beside her, "Are you ready for the big game this afternoon?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Love," Ani replied with a cream cheese smile on her face.

"Hey, Harry," Draco said, leaning towards him, "who is that with Dumbledore?"

Harry looked up at the Head Table and noticed, for the first time, that there was a new person sitting beside Headmaster Dumbledore. Harry looked at Stryker.

"Is that guy beside Dumbledore from your school?"

Stryker looked and shook his head; "I have never seen him in my life."

Seeing the curious looks on all of the students' faces, Albus stood and called for everyone's attention.

"I would like to introduce to you all, a good friend of mine, Christian Whitford. He is my guest and should be treated as though he were me. Of course, there is no need for me to be telling you all this, as you are all respectful young witches and wizards. Please, make him feel welcome and help him if he asks you. Have a nice day."  

Those were his last words before the bell rang for the first class. Gryffindor, Slytherin and Beauxbaton walked together into the dungeons to attend Potions. Once they had all been seated and settled, Professors Snape and Wall swept into the room.

"I see that we have a few guests," Snape hissed, seeing the scarlet robes of Beauxbaton spread throughout the room, "For those of you who don't know me, I am Severus Snape and this is my assistant, Lauren Wall. We are the Potions Masters at this school. For the past week, these students have worked on making Polyjuice Potion, a type of transforming potion that allows the drinker to assume the identity of another person as long as he/she is provided with a hair or nail. I will ask now that one person from each group go check on your cauldrons and add the necessary ingredients. The rest of you will begin another type of transforming potion. It has to be done exactly right, or consequences will follow. I am going to drink it at the end of class. If the potion was brewed correctly, it should turn me into a rock. If I do not turn into a rock, I will give you and your partner detention and take points away from your house. Beauxbaton students, join a pair of Hogwarts students."

Harry, Anistasia and Stryker were together. Harry went to check on the Polyjuice Potion while Ani and Stryker began the potion.

"Wow, Professor Snape seems to be a bit tough," Stryker said as he began the fire, "He would make me nervous."

Anistasia shrugged as she ground the unicorn horn, "He might be tough, but I can tell that, on the inside, he's a little teddy bear."

"Teddy bear, eh," Harry asked, "You're nuts, Ani, pure nuts. Oh, and the Polyjuice Potion is turning out wonderfully. Between you and me," Harry whispered so only his partners could hear, "Hermione found a way to extend the time that we stay each other by an hour and a half."

"Wicked," Ani exclaimed, "Snape's going to have a fit when we don't turn back into ourselves by the end of the period! How do we do it?"

Harry nodded towards the unicorn horn she was grinding, "Add a pinch of that to the potion."

"Who all is doing it?"

"Everybody."

Ani giggled a little and put some of the powdered horn in Harry's hand. Stryker shook his head as Hermione passed.

"You are genius, Hermione," Ani hissed, "I want to know how you found this out!"

"I'll tell you later tonight in the Common Room," she hissed back, grinning.

"Are all Hogwarts students this mischievous," Stryker asked.

Anistasia laughed, "You think that this is mischievous? Hermione is the angel of this year. You haven't seen anything until you see Harry and Draco pull something. Then you will see mischievous."

Harry came back, smiling from ear to ear, and helped get the ingredients ready for the potion. The three of them talked as they loaded the ingredients into the cauldron.

"I hope you all are done," Snape announced, forty five minutes later, "It seems as though Potter and Willow are considering how much they are talking."

Harry and Anistasia looked at each other wide eyed. Harry stood frozen as Ani, reading the directions quickly, randomly shoved handfuls of this and pinches of that into a pot. Snape came over and pushed her aside.

"There is no saving your failure now, Ms. Willow," he growled as he took a goblet full of the potion and took a sip.

As expected, he didn't turn into a rock, though, what did happen was excitingly better. A moment after Snape had drunken the potion and was about to give Ani and Harry detentions, he froze up and got a soft, yet scary smile on his face.

"Her eyes are a majestic green,

"When she walks into the room, she lights up the scene,

"I love her so much, I wish she were mine,

"I can never help but notice that she is utterly divine,

"The owl, the Potions Master, the apple of my eye,

"Lauren Wall, I love you, and that is no lie."

The entire class burst into uncontrollable laughter. Professor Wall turned scarlet and vanished from the room as Ani, Harry, Stryker, Hermione and Ron all looked at each other.

"Ani," Stryker whispered, "You made a love/truth potion!"

Anistasia stopped laughing and looked at Snape as he was gaining consciousness. He saw the class had burst into laughter, Professor Wall had disappeared and Ani had turned very white.

"What is so funny," Snape demanded loudly.

The class went silent, except for one mumbling voice.

"…The owl, the Potions Master, the apple of my eye, Lauren Wall, I love you, and that is no lie."

Snape's face went from pale white to bright red, "What was that Weasley?"

Ron looked up, "Its what you said, sir. That is what we were laughing at." 

Snape's face turned even redder as he pulled his robes around him. He didn't say a word…couldn't it looked like. Although, once he got his voice back…

"That will be fifty points from Gryffindor and detentions to you, Willow, Potter and Weasley," he said quietly and left their table.

Anistasia sighed, glad that the punishment wasn't anything worse and leaned against Harry. He seemed relived as well and shot a grin in Stryker's direction. The bell rang and they were off to Divination. 

The trio entered the room and was immediately greeted by fumes from the many candles lit around the room. Stryker entered the room first, stumbling and coughing a bit.

"I predicted that I would have some guests today."

The three of them turned towards the voice. Professor Trelawney was hovering at the head of the classroom as though she had been meditating.

"Take your seats. Class is about to start."

Stryker, Ani and Harry joined Ron and Hermione at one of the tables in the back of the room. The rest of the class piled in and the Professor began class.

"We are going to continue trying to foresee the future with crystal balls," Professor Trelawney announced, "Now, if you will, one person from your table retrieve a ball from the back shelf and we will get started."

Anistasia reached into her bag and pulled out a large box, "No need to get one, Ron. I am going to play with mine."

"Since when do you have a crystal ball," Harry asked.

"Last time we went to Hogsmade."

"But why," Hermione asked.

Divination wasn't Hermione's favorite subject and she let everyone know it. Ani ignored Hermione's question. She knew why she got the crystal ball and that's all that mattered. Ever since Ani saw that thing in Harry's eyes, she wanted to know what it was. So, her next trip to Hogsmade was spent looking for tarot cards, crystal balls and anything else she could find that might help her find an answer to the question in Harry's eyes.

"I see that Ms. Willow has bought herself a crystal ball," Professor Trelawney exclaimed, floating over, "Its nice to see a student take this class seriously. Tell me, my dear, what do you see?"

Anistasia stuttered a little as she placed her hands over the ball. Closing her eyes, she whispered the incantation, "Crystal ball, knowing all, show me what I want to see. Tell me now what I please, to these locked doors I need the keys."

Anistasia concentrated as hard as she could as the class paid attention. She felt the ball's energy run through her fingers. Images began to enter her mind. Dark, disturbing images of Harry and her…there were people around them, running and screaming. Green light was flashing all around. Anistasia looked above her as the Dark Mark showed clearly in the night sky. More screaming…more chaos. Ani began to sob and fell against Harry who was paralyzed. It was evident that he saw something walking towards them ---

"Anistasia! Anistasia, can you hear me? Please wake up!"

Anistasia blinked. She was on the ground in the Divination classroom. Harry was on one side of her, Stryker on the other. Professor Trelawney had backed away; she was in her own world…

"He will be back," she was mumbling, "He will be back and he will take three of our own with him to his side…another will be killed by him mercy, yet another at the mercy of a friend..."

Stryker, who was holding Ani's hand, began to tremble, "Come on. You have had enough of this for one day. Harry, if you would, gather her stuff, please. We are out of here."

Stryker pulled Ani to her feet and supported her weight as Harry gathered her stuff. They made their way back to the Gryffindor Common room and sat on the couch.

"Anistasia," Harry whispered, holding her hand, "What happened in there? What did you see?"

She shook her head. The energy was drained from her. She couldn't begin to comprehend what she had seen in her mind. Anistasia fell into Harry's arms and cried. He stroked her hair and told her not to worry about it. 

"Nothing is going to happen to us. I promise."

A man, sitting in a chair by the fire, was reading Hogwarts, A History and humming a soft, sad tune. Ani's sobs interrupted his reading and he looked up to see the three students on the couch. He walked over to them and kneeled beside Anistasia. He placed his hand atop of her's. Ani looked down at him.

"Mister Whitford," Anistasia said as she addressed Gryffindor as his alias and dried her eyes, "How are you?"

"I am troubled, to say the least," he replied in a soft voice, "Why are you crying?"

Gryffindor's gray eyes pierced into Ani's. He looked as though he wondered why anyone would look as distraught as Anistasia did. She shook her head.

"I am sorry, but I cannot say."

He nodded and ran his hand down her cheek, whipping away her tears. She closed her eyes and a vision came to her. It was of him, standing in the midst of chaos on a dark field. There was a light surrounding him – it was as if it was coming from him. Huge wings of light were protruding from his back and shoulders. There was a power that could be seen – it was unearthly. The song of the phoenix was present, loud and clear. A blinding light enveloped the vision and Anistasia opened her eyes. Harry was stoking her head, which was in his lap, and almost yelling at her to wake up. Stryker was keeling beside Gryffindor; both of them were silent.

"I," she said quietly, "I am very tired and…I would like to go to bed."

With that, she got up and left for her dormitory. Harry stood, getting ready to go after her, but Stryker stopped him. Harry reluctantly sat back down on the couch.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15 ~ South Gravewitch

March first – the incident in the Divination classroom had taken place a week ago and the images that she had seen incessantly haunted her. Ani was tired of being asked to tell people's future. She was tired of being the center of attention. Everyone knew she saw something horrible that lead to Professor Trelawney's prediction, but she couldn't believe what she saw. It was just an image…just a mere nightmare. Anistasia was ready for some good news. She, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at breakfast that morning when the Owl Post arrived. A roll of parchment was dropped in front of each Quidditch team member. Ani picked her's up and read:

Ms. Willow,

On March 7, at 2 in the afternoon, Professors Lauren Wall and Carol Jane Roberts along with Madam Hooch will assist you and your teammates to America. You will travel there by Portkey – the safest and fastest way. You will travel back by Portkey as well.

There is also the matter of a pre-tournament ball that South Gravewitch is holding. You may ask somebody to be your date. If they agree to go with you, they will accompany the team (if they are not on the team) to the tournament. You are required to wear your dress robes to the ball. 

I wish you luck. Bring us back a trophy!

                                                            Headmaster Albus Dumbledore

Ani rolled up her parchment and turned to Harry. Before she could say a word, Harry said:

"Will you go to the ball with me?"

Ani smiled, "I would love to, but I am going with Draco."

"Ani, that's not even funny," he said.

"I know, but you asked a very stupid question. Will I go to the ball with you? Of course," she exclaimed, then sighed, "I have never traveled by Portkey before. I can't wait."

Harry forced a weak smile upon his face, "I have traveled by Portkey before and, believe me, its not that great."

Harry turned around and Hermione leaned over to Anistasia and whispered, "Last year in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, the Triwizard Cup had been turned into a Portkey that transported Harry and Cedric Diggory to the graveyard in Little Hangleton where Lord Voldemort's father is buried. Cedric was killed and Lord Voldemort came back to power that night. That is why Harry isn't head over heels in love with the idea of traveling by Portkey."

Anistasia was shocked by this news. She couldn't believe Harry hadn't told her about that. The bell rang and Anistasia caught up with Harry.

"How come you never told me," she asked.

"About what?"

"About last year. The Triwizard Tournament and the incident in the churchyard."

"I don't like people to pity me," Harry replied, "I don't want people to go 'poor Harry' and pat me on the back. I also don't want to go back there, to that night, that feeling of anguish and anger. Though I will, sooner or later, go back to that night, to that same scene once again to fight Voldemort for what's rightfully mine."

"What is that, Harry?"

"My parents."

With that, he walked into the gate around Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures class.

  


It was almost four in the afternoon. For almost two hours, the Quidditch team, their dates and their teachers had trudged through the snow-covered countryside. To name just a few couples, Marcus Flint was with a seventh year Slytherin girl, Chris (short for Christina) Riddle, Angelina was with Ron, George had asked Katie to the ball, Draco had, surprisingly asked Ginny to accompany him to the ball, Fred was going with Hermione and, of course, Harry was going with Anistasia. 

"Lauren, are you sure that we haven't passed the Portkey?"

Professor Roberts looked as though she was ready to collapse. Harry looked over at Anistasia.

"Are you okay," he asked.

"Isn't there an easier way," Ani replied.

"Just think of this as physical training. We will get something out of this. It will strengthen our bodies, sharpen our senses ----"

"Give us frostbite and drain our energy," Ani interrupted, "I swear, Harry, you are way too positive sometimes."

"And you are way too negative," Harry exclaimed.

Anistasia looked ahead. There was nothing but white, spotless snow. It made her feel as though she were in a dream…an endless dream. She looked back down at her feet and closed her eyes…and the images came back. Those dark, terrible images that had been haunting her since that day in Divination. Every day, they were becoming stronger and clearer.

"No," she exclaimed as she opened her eyes.

"Anistasia, its okay," Harry whispered as the rest of the Quidditch team gathered around them, "Come on, I'll carry you."

Ani whimpered a little as Harry scooped her up into his warm arms and out of the cold, wet snow.

"Are you sure you want to carry her," Professor Wall asked him, "I can have her levitate beside you ---"

"No," Harry said, quite clearly, "I've got her."

Anistasia wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and lay her head on his shoulder, "Harry…"

"Shhh…quiet. You have exhausted yourself. Go to sleep. I'll wake you once we get to the Portkey."

"No…I have a bad feeling about this…Dumbledore does, too, I know he does. We need to go back to the school…the safe school where the Headmaster can protect you…"

"You are hallucinating, love. Now shush," he said, though there was a tremble in his voice.

Ani didn't say another word as she sat in Harry's arms. For another hour Harry walked with the team. Anistasia could feel him becoming gradually weaker.

"Harry, I think I can walk now."

He shook his head, "Its alright. Get your rest. We are almost ---"

"Here," Madam Hooch exclaimed.

The team gathered around Madam Hooch. In front of her lay a log, partially covered in snow.

"Grab onto your luggage…"

Harry reluctantly put Ani on the ground but never let go of one of her hands. The team scrambled around, looking for their luggage and grabbing hold of their brooms. Once everyone had everything, Madam Hooch continued with her instructions.

"Make sure you all have one hand free and on the count of three we will all touch the Portkey. One…" Harry's hand gripped Anistasia's tighter, "Two," everyone leaned forward, getting ready to touch, "Three!"

Almost twenty hands shot out at the same time and touched the Portkey. Harry felt a familiar pulling sensation behind his navel. Once they were off in a blur of color and light, Harry could feel his shoulders hitting Ani's and Fred's. Harry closed his eyes, hoping that nothing had gone wrong this time. He hoped that when he opened his eyes again, he would be in ---

"America," Anistasia gasped.

Harry opened his eyes. The sky was a bright blue, not black and cloudy. The grass was a wonderful springy green color and gravestone free. With all of the clothes he had on, he felt that it was unbearably hot for March. The headmaster of the school appeared.

"Need a hand?"

Professor wall looked up and smiled, "Michelle! It is so nice to see you again!"

The team got to its feet and faced the headmaster.

"Good morning. I am Headmaster Michelle Farmer. Welcome to South Gravewitch."

Harry stepped forward, relieved to see the smiling face, "I am Harry Potter, Seeker and Captain of this team. We are honored to be here and, quite frankly, can't wait to see the rest of this place."

Headmaster Farmer smiled, "Mr. Potter! A wonderful surprise! Please, if you will, right this way and I will introduce you to our team."

The Quidditch team, with their brooms, followed the headmaster to the Pitch. Once they entered, they saw robes of a deep forest green up in the air. The headmaster sent a stream of purple sparks into the air and one of the teammates called his team together. Once they had assembled before the Hogwarts team, a tall, blonde haired, blue eyes guy made his was to the front.

"I am Robert McGuire, but I am also known as Spike. I am the Keeper of this team as well as the captain."

Harry smiled, "I am Harry Potter, the Seeker."

The two of them shook hands.

"Lunch is about to start," Headmaster Farmer informed them, "Shall we go up to the school?"

            The teams nodded and as they made their way to the school, the Hogwarts players made note of their surroundings. All over the campus there were dragons roaming the grounds. Unicorns galloped freely over the green grass, their manes and tails swinging gently as they passed. 

"This is nothing like Hogwarts," Anistasia whispered to Harry, "Everything here is so…happy and peaceful."

"That is what every first year says when they come," one of the South Gravewitch team members said to her, "but behind all of this happiness, thee is a terrible history. My name is Seri Abbott, the Head Chaser."

"I am Anistasia, the Keeper, and this is my boyfriend, the Captain and the Seeker, Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you both, especially you, Mr. Potter. Even though America didn't have the terrible honor of holding Lord Voldemort within its borders, we had Death Eaters, which carried the power and the air of him. We are so terribly grateful to you for those Death Eaters are a part of this terrible history I was speaking of."

Harry blushed, "I didn't do anything, really. I was just a baby. It was his own fault that the spell backfired."

Ani gasped, "You spoke his name! Are you not afraid?"

"Afraid," Seri exclaimed, "Afraid of what?"

"I don't know, but many people in Britain call him he-who-must-not-be-named or you-know-who. Never by his real name – well, only by a few people. However, now that…oh, never mind. I am sure that you already know."

Seri leaned closer to Ani, "What do I know?"

"He's back."

Seri backed up and screamed. That caused both of the Quidditch teams to turn back at her, as well as the four teachers. They gathered around her.

"How dare you come upon this campus carrying such evil thoughts," Seri exclaimed, "I daresay, be rid of them!"

Anistasia recoiled, "I…I didn't mean any harm by what I said. It is just the truth. He is. He is back. We must all be aware of this – be aware that danger can strike at any moment…"

Anistasia continued to back up as a whirlwind of air picked up around her. Her eyes began to turn black and dark shadows cast upon her face made her features change. Her voice grew dark and raspy… 

"He will be back and when he comes, he will take his only son with him by any means possible even if it means death. His son will join his father in a means to conquer and maintain evil victory over all…" 

            Both of the teams stared at her in complete horror. The wind stopped and she turned back to normal as she fainted upon the ground. Harry didn't run to her side like he had all of those other times she had fainted. This was too much for him to bear. He was skeptical about Professor Trelawney's predictions, but this one he was ready to believe – but what exactly was she talking about? Professor Wall tried to wake her, but she didn't wake. 

"Mobilicorps," she said and Anistasia's body began to float in mid-air.

Professor Wall and Anistasia were soon out of sight.

"Come, students," Headmaster Farmer exclaimed, "This way!"

As the teams reached the castle, Harry could see a moat surrounding it, guarding it from trespassers. The bridge was up, seeing that most of everybody was inside. The headmaster said a spell that released the bridge and she led everybody over it. The inside of the castle looked like a castle in all of the fairy tales. It looked like one of the grand castles that held the royal families. The entrance hall was grand with marble floors and marble staircases on each side of the hall, leading up to the second floor. A South Gravewitch coat of arms hung on the wall between the two staircases. The two Quidditch teams walked along the halls and up the staircase to the second floor. Headmaster Farmer soon stopped in front of two huge stain glass doors that lead into the dining hall. Harry could hear quiet talking coming from inside. 

"You are about to enter the dining hall. There is an eighth table, which was added this morning after breakfast, adjacent to the head table, which all of you will sit at. Follow me in."

Headmaster Farmer opened the two doors. Professor Roberts, Coach Wood and Madam Hooch followed her. The two teams followed behind. Inside, there were eight tables and one head table. The ceiling was made of thick glass, which the afternoon sun was shining in through. South Gravewitch and Hogwarts flags lined the walls of the hall.

"Attention! Attention all! I would like to introduce to you all the Hogwarts Quidditch team, who came here from England."

The hall burst into applause and the headmaster whispered to the two teams, "Please, take a seat."

The South Gravewitch team led the Hogwarts students to an empty table. They sat and Headmaster Farmer continued her announcements. 

"I would like to remind you all of the ball taking place tonight in the ballroom on the ground floor which will begin at seven. As a special surprise, the rest of today's classes have been canceled as well as tomorrow's."

"Wow, this must be a huge event for them," Marcus whispered to Chris.

"Without any further a due whatsoever, lunch shall begin," Headmaster Farmer exclaimed.

A line of about twelve well dressed house elves filed into the hall. One of them walked up to the Quidditch table.

"What will it be, my dears," she squeaked, though in a kind, gentle way.

"You guys may order first," Spike said to Harry.

"Um…" he stuttered, "well I…what do you have?"

"Cheeseburgers, French fries, pizza, chips of all kinds, dips to go with the chips, soda, water and milkshakes."

Harry's mind drew a blank, "Uh…I hope you don't mind me asking, but – what?"

"I am sorry, Matilda. Allow me to go first," Spike said, "I'll have one cheeseburger, hold the onions, curly fries with extra salt and ketchup. To drink I will have a root beer. Add a side of sour cream and onion chips."

Matilda, the house elf nodded and turned to Harry.

"I'll have…what he's having," Harry declared, still a bit confused.

The rest of the Hogwarts team had the same. Once Matilda had all of the orders, she went back into the kitchens. 

"Spike, what did I just order," Harry asked.

"Pure, All American grub, my friend," he replied, "Its so sweet, dude. Take my word for it – no other country makes better food."

"Tell me, Spike," Hermione began, "Do your house elves get paid?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he replied, "A Galleon a month."

Hermione gasped, "Our house elves don't. I think they should, though. All they do is work in the kitchens and clean during the night and while we are in classes. They are never seen, even at meal times. After Dumbledore says a few words, food magically pops up onto the table. Hardly anyone knows about the house elves. I tried to start a House Elf Liberation Front, but nobody wanted to join. It was a complete disgrace ----"

"So, Seri," Harry began, as Fred stuffed a roll in Hermione's mouth, "What were you saying about the terrible history of this school?"

To this, Hermione stopped struggling with Fred and listened. Everything interested her, especially if it can teach her something.

"Oh, well…no one really speaks of it, but it all started when Death Eaters began invading the castle. They were powerful. Everyone feared them, even the headmaster who, needless to say, was let go after this incident," she began.

"Hey, look! The food is here," Spike exclaimed, clearly not wanting Seri to say any more.

The food was set in front of each of the students and Harry found that Spike was right. He took one bite and was craving for more.

"Wehafgotogeiztufaogwarz," he said through a mouthful of cheeseburger.

"I cant understand you, dude," Spike said, "That accent is going to kill me this weekend."

Harry swallowed, "I said that we have to get this stuff at Hogwarts."

Near the end of lunch, Spike noticed someone enter the hall, "Hey, who is that."

Harry looked up, his face covered in ketchup, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the only person that Lord Voldemort fears. He is a grand man – the greatest wizard of our time."

Ani, who was walking alongside Dumbledore, spotted Harry and the team and walked over to them.

 "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. I see that you have a natural taste for American food. Oh, and you have a spot of ketchup just there," Dumbledore said.

Harry took his napkin and whipped where Dumbledore pointed, though found that there was more ketchup than Albus lead him on to believe. With a laugh, Dumbledore turned to the rest of the team.

"I hope you all are having a fine time here. Good luck tomorrow and have fun at the ball tonight. Yes, and even more luck to you, Quidditch team of South Gravewitch. I unfortunately, won't be here for all of tomorrow's game. Lots of things to take care of, but I am sure you all will be more than happy to fill me in on all that I will have missed."

Albus turned on his heel and joined the head table. Ani sat beside Harry and joined the teams.

"Are you feeling okay, Love," Harry asked, pulling her close.

"Yes, just fine. Headmaster Dumbledore met me in the Hospital Wing and we talked a little about the incident, which, I might add, I have no recollection of."

Harry nodded, "Here, have a bite of my cheeseburger."

 Ani smiled and ate. Lunch was over soon, and Spike led the two teams to the dorms.

"The way that this school works is that the dormitories are split up by gender and year," Spike explained to them, "We are going to enter a building. On one side of the hall there are guys dorms; on the other, girls dorms. I will give you your room assignments once we get there."

They walked through doorways and hallways; up stairs and across the hard marble floor. Finally, Spike stopped in the middle of a wide hallway with several doors on each side.

"These are the dorms. First years take residence on the first floor while seventh years are on the seventh floor. Guests are allowed a room on any floor they wish as long as they are rooming with a South Gravewitch student. There is a maximum of five people to a room. I would suggest to you, Hogwarts, that you room with a Quidditch player. I will give you all ten minutes to talk amongst yourselves," Spike said, "Come, team, to your rooms and begin preparing for the ball."

Harry turned to his team and their dates.

"All right, guys, lets see. Ron, I want you in my room. Marcus, I think it would be wise if we roomed together so we can talk things over and plan for tomorrow. Draco, you can be the second Slytherin in our room so Marcus doesn't feel outnumbered. I guess Spike will be in our room. Does that sound good to you? What floor should we get?"

"Seventh," Marcus said.

Harry nodded, "Ani, why don't you, Ginny and Hermione room on the seventh floor as well. Seri seems cool. Room with her and another South Gravewitch team member."

Anistasia nodded. Harry worked on the room plans for a few more minutes and Spike showed up to get them. Harry told him what they had decided and Spike nodded. 

"Right this way, then."

Spike showed them all to their rooms saying, "A South Gravewitch Team member will be down to room with you in an hour or so."

He showed Harry to their room last and left him, Marcus, Ron and Draco alone to get ready for the ball.

"Draco," Ron began, "I have no idea why you asked my sister to this thing but I swear, if you hurt her, I will kill you faster than you can say, 'Avada Kedavra'."

Draco laughed, "You don't think I have already gotten this speech from your brothers? Even Percy sent me an owl – a Howler, to be exact – warning me of this. Don't worry, Ron. I don't want six Weasleys kicking my ass. Oh, and if you want to know why I asked her, because, quite frankly, all of the girls in Slytherin aren't anything to look at. Well, except for Chris. She's a beauty. Ginny is a beautiful girl…quite interesting, too. That's all the explanation I will give you."

"Well, you have my approval."

"Man, if its this hard to try to get her to date me, I would hate to know what might happen if I asked her to marry me," Draco exclaimed. Ron glowered in his direction and he added quickly, "Not that I was going to or anything. Just saying…he, he."

Ron laughed and continued to get ready for the ball. Soon, it was half past six. Harry left to run across the hall to get Anistasia. 

"Harry," Hermione exclaimed when she had answered the door in silver, silk dress robes, "Anistasia isn't quite ready yet. Here, have a seat."

Harry sat on a couch and Hermione continued, "Listen, I think there's something up with this school we need to check out. I went down to the library earlier and grabbed the book, The History of South Gravewitch School of Magic. It's relatively thick, but not thicker than Hogwarts: A History," she said, pulling a book from the table between them and sat it in her lap, "but I managed to find something here that has a meaning to us. Listen to this: 'In the mid-1970's, during Lord Voldemort's rein of power, a gathering of a hundred or so Death Eaters invaded the school, which was then named Ravengriff School of Witchcraft, and managed to take it over. They killed anyone who attempted to stop them. Once they had cleared the school of unworthy wizards (Mudbloods and rebels), the Death Eaters turned the castle into a school for Dark Arts. They cast an unbreakable barrier around the school allowing no one in and no one out. For over two years, young magicians were taught the all of the Dark Magic known to man, including the Unforgivable Curses. Once they proved themselves worthy, they would be tattooed with the Dark Mark and sent out to serve Lord Voldemort. 

"There was one child that never made a sound and always did what she was told to do, even when the school was being transformed from good to evil right before her eyes. Rose Gravewitch was a fourth year when the invasion began. Even though her school was going from good to evil, she never fought against it nor raised an argument. At least, no one noticed that she was. She soon became a favorite of the Head Death eater and he began courting her. Rose led him on, even in front of her love and Charms Professor Jonathan Pierce. Both Jonathan and she knew that this was a perfect way to unleash their plan. About a year after this evil reined over the school, Jonathan was caught planning against the Death Eaters and was killed in the top room o the East Tower. Rose recovered most of the plans that the Death Eaters never found and continued her love's work. The night before she was to be dubbed a fellow Death Eater, the Head Death Eater, Justin Reed caught her in that very room her love was killed. She convinced him that she was destroying the documents that she had recovered and he believed her. He began seducing her, but learned that her intentions were unworthy when he stumbled upon a document with her handwriting, and decided to kill her. It turns out that both Justin and Rose muttered 'Avada Kedavra' at the same time, causing a rare effect and turning them both to dust. 

"With the loss of their leader, the other Death Eaters fled and the school was soon re-named South Gravewitch.' 

"Later, a journal that Rose was keeping was found. It was written in some kind of unknown language. Some of it was deciphered. Some of the interesting parts state that she knew her death was coming and she knew what would become of the school after her death, but details were never given. It goes on, but that is the part that really means anything."

Harry looked up at Hermione as she closed the book, "That's a very nice piece of history, but what are we supposed to do with it?"

"We aren't targeting much of this history, just the part about the East Tower. It is said that the three souls still haunt that room. What you, Ani, Ron and I are going to do is conduct a séance."

"Yes, but how it is going to help us?"

"Ani says that her visions keep becoming stronger, which has been evident through the past week. It seems as though this is the strongest it has ever been. I think that with all of the fortune telling and spirit-summoning objects that she bought from Hogsmade, we can find out what these visions mean, exactly. If we don't, it could mean trouble. The four of us are going to go up to that room at a quarter past eleven so we can be ready when it comes midnight."

"The ball ends at eleven. We might get caught trying to get up there after the ball," Harry exclaimed, "why must we be ready at midnight? Why can't we do the séance at ten thirty?"

"Are you crazy, Harry," she asked, "We all can't just leave the ball. We might stir up too much attention. We have to start going up there after the ball. As for why we must do it at midnight, I am sure you have heard all of the horror stories about ghosts and things coming out when the clock strikes midnight. A séance will work best when it is midnight. That is when all of the witches and wizards do it. Lets just hope, Harry, that you brought your invisibility cloak. We will be needing it seeing that we have no idea what roams these corridors."

Harry nodded, "Lucky for us, I did."

Their conversation was ended abruptly as Anistasia entered the room wearing royal purple silk dress robes. Harry proudly escorted her to the ballroom. As they danced, he put the thought of tonight's adventures aside.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16 ~ The Midnight Calling

It was five 'till eleven and the dance was about to end.

"Alright, its time to grab a partner and hold 'em close for the last dance of the night," the lead singer from Linkin Park announced.

~*This is my December*~

~*This is my time of the year*~

~*This is my December*~

~*This is all so clear*~

Harry wrapped his arms around Anistasia's waist and held her close as the song began. She lay her head on Harry's shoulder and looked around as they danced.

"Look at Hermione," she said softly with a smile, "I think she rather likes Fred."

"She does, though, I don't think Ron thinks very kindly about Fred taking Hermione to this ball," Harry replied just as softly, "Ron has told me on many occasions that he fancies Hermione."

~*This is my December*~

~*This is my snow-covered home*~

~*This is my December*~

~*This is me alone*~

"Really," Anistasia asked, "I could have never been able to tell. Ron hides his feelings very well. Of course, I can't always look at that as though it were a good thing."

"Ron seems to have other things on his mind right now," Harry pointed out.

Ron, dancing closely to Angie, was watching Draco dance with Ginny like a hawk.

~*And I'd give it all away*~

~*Just to have somewhere to go to*~

~*Give it all away*~

~*To have someone to come home to*~

"Ron isn't the only one with his eyes on Draco and Ginny," Ani said, referring to Fred and George who were dancing with their partners on opposite sides of the dance floor.

Marcus danced closer to Harry and Ani with Chris in his arms, "I see that the Weasley Brothers aren't going to allow Draco to slip up with their little sis tonight."

Harry laughed, "There isn't a chance in the world. Draco had better be on his best behavior, and it seems as though he has been seeing as no fights have broken out yet."

~*This is my December*~

~*These are my snow-covered trees*~

~*This is me pretending*~

~*This is all I need*~

"Oh, my ----," Chris exclaimed suddenly as she pointed to a dark corner of the dance floor, "Is that…?"

"Snape and Wall," Harry whispered.

It was indeed the two Potion Masters. Harry and Ani made their way closer to the two.

"--- can't be good," Professor Wall was saying, "You shouldn't be here Severus."

"I didn't really come here to dance, my dear, Lauren," he replied, "I just need you to relay the message I have brought for Albus."

"He is in England…"

"I am aware of that, Love. That is why I need you to fly out tonight."

Professor Wall sighed, "I should start out now if I am sure that I will make it by morning."

"No," Professor Snape begged pulling her closer, "At least end the song with me."

~*And I just wish that I didn't feel like there was something I missed*~

~*And I take back all the things I said to make you feel like that*~

~*And I just wish that I didn't feel like there was something I missed*~

~*And I take back all the things that I said to you*~

Harry pulled Ani closer to him. He knew as well as she did what the two professors were talking about. Ani ran a hand down the side of Harry's face and kissed him on the cheek. He knew that he didn't want to see what tomorrow was going to bring.

~*This is my December*~

~*This is my time of the year*~

~*This is my December*~

~*This is all so clear*~

~*Give it all away*~

~*Just to have somewhere to go to*~

~*Give it all away*~

~*To have someone to come home to*~

The last notes of the song died out in the ballroom and Ani and Harry just stood there.

"Thank you everybody! Have a great evening!"

Hermione walked over to them as people began filing out of the ballroom, "Well, don't just stand there! Harry, meet Ani and I in front of our room by no later than eleven twenty. Make sure you have both the invisibility cloak and Ron. Come on, Ani, we have to get your stuff together!"

She pulled Ani away from Harry. He stood there, looking around. Finally, he decided to follow Hermione's orders and went up to the room. Ron was in the common room when Harry arrived.

"Have a good time, Ron," he asked.

"Splendid. Draco is a lucky ol' chap, though. Fred and George caught him giving Ginny a good night kiss. I arrived just in time to keep them from jumping Draco."

"Well, I am going to grab the cloak, then we have to be off. I'll be back in no time."

Harry went to his bed and pulled the invisibility cloak from the duffle bag under his bed. Carefully, he walked back to where Ron was. They both walked out of the room and across the hall. Ani and Hermione were standing outside carrying a large bag of things.

"Ginny seems to have had a great time tonight," Ani informed Ron, "She is prancing around like she had just had her first kiss!"

"She did," Ron grumbled, then turned his attention to the bag in her hand, "What is all of this?"

"Crystal ball, candles, potion ingredients ----"

"Potion ingredients," Ron exclaimed, "You told me that we are conducting a séance, not making a potion!"

"Be quiet, Ron," Hermione ordered, "Of course we aren't making a potion. We need these for summoning charms. Anyways, we had better get a move on."

Harry threw the invisibility cloak over the four of them and Hermione led the way.

"Are you sure you know where you're going, Hermione," Ron asked.

"Yes, I have checked and double checked the map in A History of South Gravewitch School of Magic."

"I'll give ten galleons to anyone who can say that title ten times fast," Harry whispered.

"A History of South Gravewitch School of Magic; A History of South Gravewitch School of Magic; A History ----"

"Ron, shut up! You're going to get us caught!"

Ron hushed immediately and Hermione continued to lead them down corridors and up steps. In no time at all, Harry and the others were lead into the East Tower.

"It is half past eleven. We are making very good time," Hermione whispered.

They climbed the stairs of the tower for another fifteen minutes. The spiral staircase ended abruptly, showing the four young witches and wizards the doorway to their destination.

Ani reached for the door and tried to turn the knob, "Its locked."

"Not surprising," Hermione answered, "Alohomora."

The door's lock made a small "click" and Ani opened the door. Once the four of them were inside and the door was, again, shut and locked, Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of him and his three companions. The room around them was pitch black.

"Lumos," four voices whispered in unison.

Once their wands began giving off light, Ani walked to the middle of the room. 

"We have to work quickly. Its almost twelve," she said, "The three of you take the candles out of my bag and make a huge circle. Make sure unicorn blood outlines the candle base of each one. I will be along to help you as soon as I get my things set up."

They worked for quite some time. Once everything was set up, Ani took the largest candle and set it in the middle of the circle. Ani sat down. The rest followed.

"We are going to work on calling the spirit of Rose first," Anistasia said, "Join hands and close your eyes," they did as Ani said and she continued, "Of the three spirits that haunt this room, Rose Gravewitch, we are calling you. On the night before you were to become a Death Eater, you were killed in this room. I know that you foresaw your death and you foresaw the future of this school. I need to ask you some things about that ----"

A cold wind picked up in the room. Harry gripped Ani's hand tightly. Ani opened her eyes, which were now cold and white. When she spoke, her voice was not her own.

"I am here. Why must you disturb my peace?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione opened their eyes. Scared by the look on her face, Harry and Hermione let go of her hands. 

"Rose," Hermione asked.

"Yes, my dear," Rose's spirit answered through Anistasia's body, "Who are you?"

"I am Hermione Granger. Our friend, whose body you have possessed, has been having visions of things – she thinks it is the future. I know that you have seen the future of this school as well as seeing your own death. Do you remember what you saw?"

Ani smiled and Rose's voice spoke, "I have been trying to tell you, through your friend, what is to come. Ever since she saw something in his eyes," she pointed to Harry, "she has been trying to find out what it meant."

"What did she see in my eyes," Harry asked, "Why didn't she tell me that she saw something?"

"She didn't want to scare you," Rose replied, "This girl cares for you very much. She loves you and will follow you wherever you will go…whatever path you choose. It is her destiny, no doubt."

"What is her destiny," Harry asked, "What is my destiny? Does it involve this school? Is that how you know?"

"I tried to tell you earlier today, but her body is too weak, as it is again now. I am slipping…ball…"

Anistasia gasped as Rose's spirit left her body and fell against Harry. He cradled her.

"What just happened," Ani asked; her voice was back to normal and her eyes were green again.

"No time to explain now," Hermione said, "You need to get to the crystal ball. Rose is going to send you something."

Ron spoke up, "Hermione, do you have any respect whatsoever? A ghost has just possessed Anistasia and you want her to work harder. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were jealous of her. Everyone knows you have been after Harry ever since you laid eyes on him ---"

"Some nerve you have," Hermione exclaimed, "As a matter of fact, I don't have a thing for Harry. If truth be told ---"

"Please, stop arguing," Ani interrupted, "We have to work to ---"

"--- I have liked you for the past five flippin' years," Hermione finished.

Ron, who was sitting beside her, couldn't say a word. After a moment of dead silence, Ron pulled Hermione closer to him and kissed her.

Anistasia smiled, "All right, you two, break it up. We have a job to do."

Hermione reluctantly pulled away and nodded. Ani brought the crystal ball closer to her and placed her hands above it.

"Crystal ball, knowing all, show me what I want to see. Tell me now what I please, to these locked doors I need the keys."

After a moment, Ron asked, "Ani, what do you see?"

"Nothing," she replied, opening her eyes, "Nothing at all."

Harry sighed, "I think it's about time we headed back to our rooms."

Anistasia gathered her stuff and the three others blew out the candles. Hermione unlocked the door and the cloak was thrown over them once again. They headed out. For thirty minutes, they walked, but there was no sign of the dormitories.

"Hermione, where are we," Ron asked.

"Um…we are…lost," she said.

"What do we do now," Ani asked.

"Keep walking," Hermione said, "There is nothing more we can do."

They kept walking and soon found themselves in the entrance hall, which was guarded by prefects.

"Should we ask the prefects for help," Ron asked.

"No," Harry replied, "We will get in horrible trouble if they know what we have been up to. We have to sneak past them."

They began to sneak past, but Anistasia tripped over Ron's foot and sent the group sprawling to the ground. The invisibility cloak slid across the floor, Ani's possessions spilled all over the hall and the four Hogwarts students became visible. The prefects turned to them all piled upon the ground.

"Four students out of bed," one of them chuckled, "and four Hogwarts students at that! Get up! Come with me!"

They got up and three prefects led them to Headmaster Farmer's office. The lead prefect (the one who found them) knocked on the door.

"Come in," the headmaster called.

The prefect opened the door and allowed the Hogwarts students in first. Anistasia was in the lead, followed by Harry, Ron, then Hermione.

"What is the meaning of this, Charles," Headmaster Farmer asked.

"Brian, Drew and I found these four sneaking around," the prefect who found them answered, "They were under an invisibility cloak, which Brian is holding. Drew is carrying the stuff that they had with them."

Headmaster Farmer nodded, "Very well, then. Leave their things and fetch their professors."

"Yes, ma'am."

Brian and Drew placed their things on the headmaster's desk and left with Charles. Harry had a terrible feeling in his stomach. It was one thing to be caught sneaking around Hogwarts after hours but…he couldn't bear to look up at his professors as they walked into the room. Apparently, Madam Hooch, Oliver and Professor Roberts weren't told who the culprits were by the surprised look upon their faces when they spotted Harry.

"Michelle, do you mind if we have a word with them alone," Professor Roberts asked.

"Not at all," Headmaster Farmer replied, "Take your time."

Headmaster Farmer left the room and Professor Roberts turned to the students.

"Anistasia Willow, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter," she began, "The four students I would least expect to see under these circumstances – and Gryffindor students at that. I am aware that I am the least qualified person to be speaking to you right now, but Professor McGonagall will have her words once you return to school as well as a punishment. I will be sending an owl to her as soon as we are done here."

Harry groaned. He has known McGonagall for five years now and he knew that she wouldn't take this report very lightly.

"Of course, before I send the owl to your head of house, I need to get some things out of you," Professor Roberts continued, "First of all whose things are these?"

"The cloak is mine," Harry replied quietly.

"The bag and everything else is mine," Anistasia said just as softly.

"So, Mr. Potter and Ms. Willow, do you mind explaining to me what you were doing with two companions, an invisibility cloak, candles and a crystal ball? Not to mention various potion ingredients including unicorn blood, basilisk scales and black widow venom."

"I will explain, professor," Hermione volunteered, "This whole thing was my brilliant idea. I read about Rose Gravewitch and wanted to speak with her. Harry brought his cloak so we could get up to the East Tower without being seen and Ani brought her Divination supplies so we could conduct a séance."

"What was your role, Mr. Weasley," Professor Roberts asked.

"It was a supporting role, Professor Roberts," he replied in almost a whisper, "I tagged along to help them with their mission."

"It didn't pay off, now did it," she asked, then sighed, "Come with me, Ron and Hermione. I will escort you back to your rooms while Madam Hooch and Coach Wood deals with their end of business."

They left and Madam Hooch stepped up, "As representatives of our school and our Quidditch team, I am ashamed with the both of you. You may have great skill on the field, but if you ruin your reputation by doing stupid things like this, your skills wont be worth anything."

"Yes," Oliver butted in, "I am thoroughly ashamed in both of you!"

Madam Hooch, Ani and Harry looked to Oliver. It was evident that he was just learning how to treat them like students and not teammates.

"Please, Oliver…I think that I should handle this," Madam Hooch said, then continued, "I have half a mind to pull you both out of the game tomorrow, but my best interest has kicked in and, luckily, I wont. If truth were to be told, you two are the best players we have. Your partnership is greater than anything I could have ever seen in amateur Quidditch players both on and off the field. Though, if I hear that either of you step a toe out of line again, it will be my duty to expel you from the House team, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," they both answered quietly.

Madam Hooch handed them back their things and led them back to their rooms. As they parted, Harry smiled weakly at Ani and mouthed, "Good night, Love." Ani did the same and they both went to bed. 

Headmaster Dumbledore was sitting at his desk and a quill in hand, positioned over the top left hand side of a piece of parchment. The squealing of the feather resounded like deaf complaints. Before words covered half the page, the tawny owl, known as Professor Wall, flew into the open window. The feather stopped and Professor Wall appeared before him.

"Professor," he began, "why aren't you in America?"

"Severus had asked me to relay a message to you," she panted, still trying to catch her breath from the long flight.

"Severus? Does this mean ---?"

"Yes, Headmaster. Voldemort has followed Harry to America and he is planning to attack."

"When?" Dumbledore's voice was sharp and urgent.

"He does not know, sir," Wall replied quietly, "None of the Death Eaters do. Voldemort told them that they would attack when the Dark Mark appears in the sky. I assume it will be one night soon."

"I cannot leave Hogwarts now, if that is what you came here to ask me to do. There are events that will take place soon that I must be here to take care of."

"Events that are more important than the threat of an attack by Voldemort?"

Albus placed the quill on his desk, "The giants that Hagrid had sided with earlier this year has now made a change in the alliance. Voldemort offered them more than I had in return for their loyalty, and the giants believed that Voldemort would give it to them. The giants will attack the school one day soon, and I must make plans to protect the students and the teachers."

"The attack, Headmaster…Harry…"

"I cannot do anything about it at this time. The school is under the threat of a deadly and devastating attack and it is my responsibility as headmaster to be here to defend the school in any way possible. Godric is an America…he is a wiser and stronger wizard than I. Fly back to him and inform him about what is happening. Thus, remember this – we are as strong divided as we are united."

Professor Wall nodded, morphed and flew away. With the gleam of the moonlight, Dumbledore watched her fly away. In his eyes, there was a look as if for the first time in his life, he feared the future.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17 ~ Destiny

The events of last night still reined heavily in Harry's mind. He had thought repeatedly about what Rose had told him. What did Ani see in his eyes? Did it scare her? In addition, what was it about her destiny to follow him wherever he went? He wanted to resolve this issue with her as soon as possible. He sat down to breakfast.

"Hey, Harry," Seri said, "You and your friends have some guts to have gone up to Dead Man's Tower."

"Is that what you all call the East Tower," Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Spike replied, "What is it like up there?"

"Dark…very dark," Harry mumbled as he stabbed through a stack of pancakes in the middle of the table.

Anistasia walked into breakfast a little while later and sat next to Harry. She helped herself to some pancakes and drowned them in pineapple syrup.

"Morning, Ani," Harry said, kissing her on the cheek, "I need to talk to you as soon as we can get a moment alone."

"Alright,' she answered.

Then, three owls flew in. Professor Wall was one of them, Pigwigeon was the other and Katrina Willow was the third.

"Oh no," Ani moaned, "She flew all the way out here. This cant be good."

Mrs. Willow walked over with Pigwigeon on her shoulder and up to Ron, "I believe this is yours."

Happy that there wasn't a howler in his talons, Ron took the roll of parchment and began to read as Mrs. Willow walked up to Anistasia.

"Anistasia Marie Willow, I need to have a word with you. In the hall, now!"

Harry gave Ani's hand a loving squeeze as she followed her mother out into the hall. Harry could hear Ron mumbling curses under his breath as he read his note from his mother.

"I am worse than dead," he said to Harry, "Mum is going to be at the school upon my arrival and dad is going to be here at the game today to give me a bashing. McGonagall's taken a hundred house points from each of the four of us which puts Gryffindor in the negative nineties. No house has ever gotten that low before. Mum also says that I should be grateful I am not expelled for my behavior; even though we are receiving detentions for the rest of the term…I cant go back to that school, Harry. I just cant!"

"I am sure McGonagall was acting on her first feelings. She'll probably cut back on the detentions and give back points for good behavior," Harry assured him.

Anistasia reentered the hall alone and sat again beside Harry.

"My mum is so angry," she told him, "I am going to be on restriction for the entire summer. No owl, no magic and no Quidditch. Can you believe that? This is going to be miserable. Oh, and did you hear about Professor McGonagall's punishments?"

"Yes, Anistasia. Ron told me. His mum sent him an owl. This is one time I am glad to have Muggle guardians that don't give a flying fuck what I do."

Anistasia sighed, "I think I am done with breakfast. Do you want to have that talk now?"

Harry nodded and they walked out to the courtyard and sat on a bench.

"Ani," he began, "Rose told me that you saw something in my eyes and that is why you got into this divination stuff. Tell me, what did you see?"

"Evil. Unimaginable evil. Things that I dare not speak – some things I cant even describe," she replied, "It wasn't just in your eyes – it was in your soul."

"But why? Why would you see that in me?"

"That I can't tell you, Harry."

Harry was silent for a moment, then spoke again, "she also said that you care for me and that you'd follow me no matter what path I chose – that it was your destiny."

Anistasia looked at him, "I do love you Harry. I guess what she meant was that I was destined to be with you forever."

"Do you mean that we are supposed to marry each other?"

"I don't know what that means, Harry."

"Anistasia, I think you are misunderstanding me," Harry began, "I know that you and I – we are young and, right now, I have nothing to offer you, but I would like to ask for your hand in marriage. You don't need to answer now. Just think long and hard about it ---"

"Yes," Ani exclaimed.

"I suppose that was long enough."

Anistasia laughed as Harry swept her into his arms and kissed her.

  


"Alright guys, this is it," Harry began, "We are going to let these Americans have it, do you hear me? Our Beaters are going to beat the hell out of them, our Chasers are going to chase them off the Pitch, our Keeper is going to keep them from scoring and our Seeker is going to seek out the Snitch and together, we are going to win this game!"

Harry was pumped and he was letting everyone know it. It was two in the afternoon. The game was going to start in an hour. He was giving the team and old pep talk. The locker room at that point was deafening with all of the cheers.

"We are going to squash those buggers," George yelled.

Cheers.

"These Americans wont know what hit 'em," Angelina screamed.

More cheers.

"Quidditch is a British sport and we are going to let them know it! We will take it and shove it right up their bloody asses," Marcus boomed.

The team was making so much noise at that point that the walls and floor were vibrating. Harry looked around at his team and smiled. They were ready. God, were they ready. Marcus led the team out for a warm up and Harry sat back in the locker room, thinking about what plays they were going to execute for the game. Just then, Sirius in his animagus form entered the room.

"No one is here but me, Sirius," Harry said.

Sirius morphed and hugged his Godson.

"It sounds like you guys have been having fun in here."

Harry shrugged, "Just a bit of pre game preparation."

Sirius smiled, "Look at how you've grown. You are a man, Harry. It is evident."

"I feel like one, Sirius. I have some good news. I just asked Anistasia to marry me this morning."

Sirius' smile grew broader, "Just like your father. He asked your mum to marry him in his fifth year, too. He wouldn't have been able to stand it if he lost her, so he had to be the first one to pop the question. Lilly was his everything."

"Ani is my everything. I don't know when I have ever felt this good or this right about something."

Sirius' face grew somber, "I am sorry I haven't been much of a Godfather to you, Harry. I should have been there for you. I know you have needed a father ---" 

"Sirius, please don't apologize. It isn't your fault. Things have happened to you that you can't help," Harry said, "I am glad that I am able to know you. Even though you can't be here for me all the time, I know that you love me. I love you."

"I love you too, son," Sirius replied and hugged Harry, "I had best be off now. I will be watching. Good luck up there."

"Thank you."

Sirius morphed back and left. Harry grabbed his broom and walked out onto the field. Harry flew a few warm up laps around the Pitch and then called his team down to the ground.

"We have ten minutes until game time," Harry explained, looking up at the already filling bleachers, "I just want to tell you all good luck. This is a fine team. Gryffindors are the best, but Slytherins aren't too bad, either."

"I would like to argue that opinion," Marcus chuckled.

"Marcus, you can't argue facts. It is theoretically impossible," Ani said, smiling.

"Alright, alright. Enough you guys," Harry laughed, "On a serious note ---"

"Oooh, Potter's getting serious!"

"How did we see that coming, Angie?"

"Seriously," Harry continued, "I never, in a million years, would have believed that Gryffindors and Slytherins could work together until I saw it. In the past month, I have seen it and I like it. Right now, we aren't Gryffindors or Slytherins. We are Hogwarts students. So, who are we?"

"Hogwarts," the team roared.

"Who are we going to beat?"

"South Gravewitch!"

"Alright, guys. Hands in. Hogwarts on three. One, two three!"

"HOGWARTS!"

As they broke, Arthur Weasley walked up, "Just wanted to say good luck. I know you'll play a great game."

"Thanks Mr. Weasley," Harry said.

"Welcome to the first game of the Hogwarts verses South Gravewitch Quidditch Tournament! I am Josh Loyall, your commentator for this afternoon. At this time, I would like to introduce the teams, starting with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Josh exclaimed, "Please welcome, the Captain and Seeker, riding a Thunderclap 2003, Harry Potter!" 

Cheers rang out in the crowd as Harry waved up to them.

"Next, the Assistant Captain and Head Chaser, also riding a Thunderclap 2003, Marcus Flint! Angelina Johnson and Adrian Pucey are the second and third Chasers riding Thunderclap 2003's! In the Beater line up, we have George Weasley and Derrick Bole, riding Thunderclap 2003's! Last but not least, the Keeper, Anistasia Willow, riding a Thunderclap 2003! Wow, this team is definitely set."

Cheers rang out from the Hogwarts crowd as the team mounted their brooms and took a lap around the Pitch.

"Now, the starting line up for your South Gravewitch School of Magic!"

The South Gravewitch supporters roared.

"Riding a Nimbus 2000, the Seeker, Jayme Si! The Chasers Seri Abbott, Emi Clinton and Crystal Star are riding Nimbus 2001's! Lets hear it for our Beaters, Elizabeth Bowen on a Firebolt and Vincent Wickel on a Nimbus 2000! Last but not least, our noble leader, the captain and Keeper, who is riding a Firebolt, Ronald "Spike" McGuire! I will ask now that the two team captains meet in the middle of the Pitch for the Galleon toss."

Harry made has way to the middle of the Pitch, his team in a line behind him. 

"Mr. Potter, if you would, call it in the air," the referee said.

"Heads," Harry exclaimed before it was caught.

"It is heads," he confirmed, "Would you like to have possession of the Quaffle first?"

"Yes."

"Very well then."

"Hogwarts has won the Galleon toss and will be receiving possession of the Quaffle first," Josh announced.

Both teams took to the air and got into position as the Bludgers and Quaffle were released. South Gravewitch looked determined. However, Harry knew they were no match for his team. The Quaffle was thrown up to Adrian Pucey and that game began.

"Hogwarts Chaser, Adrian Pucey, receives the Quaffle and begins flying it down the field. He passes it to Marcus Flint as Gravewitch Beater Elizabeth Bowen gets in his way. No faster than Flint catches it, does he pass it to Hogwarts Chaser Angelina Johnson. She takes it up the field, goes for the shot – and scores! Hogwarts is in the lead, ten to nothing."

"Go Angelina," Harry yelled.

"Spike recovers the quaffle and passes it to Chaser Crystal Star who passes it to Seri Abbott, then it is passes back to Star. Star takes it up the field, ducks under a Bludger that Hogwarts Beater George Weasley smacked, and passes it to Emi Clinton. Clinton goes for the shot, but misses. That was a beautiful save by Hogwarts Keeper Anistasia Willow."

The game was going wonderfully for Hogwarts. After an hour into the game, South Gravewitch had only scored once where Hogwarts scored eight times.

"My, my, what a game this has been," Josh was saying, "Exhausting to watch that is for sure. I am afraid to know what our players are feeling! Please, feel free to stop by our concession stand. There are refreshments of all sorts!"

Harry wasn't listening to any of the announcements. He couldn't. His scar was burning so harshly that he couldn't see straight. A couple of hours passed, but the game still hadn't ended. It was dark in no time at all.

"Well, this is going to be a challenge for our two Seekers, Harry Potter and Jayme Si. There is a full moon out, yes, but there is still not enough light to spot a Snitch. I hope these two have killer instincts because, at this point, they have a one in a million chance to catch the Snitch. Everyone here knows that a Quidditch match doesn't stop until the Snitch is caught. We are going to be here for a while. So, grab a Snickers! They are sold at our concession stand for only a sickle a piece."

Harry flew over to Anistasia, practically knocking her off her broom.

"Harry, are you okay," she asked once she regained her balance.

"Time…out…" He said, holding his head, "Quickly…"

"TIME OUT," Anistasia called.

"Hogwarts calls for a two and a half minute time out," Josh announced.

The team flew down to their benches. Anistasia practically carried Harry over when he landed short.

"Where is Madam Hooch," Ani asked.

"She went to get a drink," Fred answered.

"Get Madam Hooch and see if Headmaster Dumbledore is here, Fred," Anistasia ordered, "Draco, tell the referee that you are going in for Harry."

"No…I can…go in…"

"Harry, you can't hold yourself up, much less fly. I am not letting you back on that broom. You have had enough."

Fred arrived with Madam Hooch, "Dumbledore isn't here. He never showed up."

"Damn," Ani exclaimed.

Ron and Hermione ran up.

"What's the matter with Harry," Ron asked.

"His scar is burning so badly that he can't stay atop his broom," Ani replied, "Go find you know who and tell him what's going on."

"Oh, Ani, this isn't good," Hermione exclaimed, "This means that -----"

"I know what this means," she interrupted, "and Dumbledore isn't here."

"Harry has fought him before ----"

"Not at full power, he hasn't."

"Yes. Last year. The duel."

"That duel was nothing," Anistasia screamed, "Voldemort hadn't had his powers back for thirty minutes when he had challenged Harry to that duel. Hermione, get a grip! He is ----"

Screams interrupted Ani. She turned around in time to see the Dark Mark form in the night sky above them. 

"He is here, Hermione," Anistasia finished with quivering fear in her voice, "We must take arms against him, Dumbledore or no Dumbledore."

"Children, to the locker rooms, now," Madam Hooch ordered.

Anistasia picked up Harry and was about to run to take him to the safety of the locker rooms when she heard Ron's voice.

"Sirius, no! You can't risk it!"

Sirius, in his human form, unguarded was his identity, ran up to Ani, Harry and Hermione.

"Sirius, what are you doing," Hermione hissed, "You are going to get caught! The ministry is still after you ---"

"Don't worry about me, Hermione," he told her, "I have regretted that, for the past couple of years when Harry needed me, I was in hiding, too afraid of my own destiny if the Dementors found me. I will hide no more. I will go down fighting for my Godson's life."

Harry looked up for the first time since the beginning of the time out, "Sirius, don't do this…"

"You cannot talk me out of it. You have no idea how special you are ---"

"I am special enough to need an Order to protect me. I am just an object. I am the object that keeps evil within its own borders and allows good to rein on. I am the Potter Child – the poor, helpless key to good and evil. I am the only thing keeping those two opposites from bleeding together. Let me tell you, Sirius, I don't need the Order of the Phoenix to protect me. I have fought Voldemort in the past and I can do so again."

"Harry, you don't understand ---"

"Oh, but I do Sirius, more than you can imagine."

This entire time, the five people standing in the middle of the Pitch were oblivious to the chaos taking place all around them. Death Eaters were emerging from all sides of the field, killing unmercifully as witches and wizards of all ages were fighting against them. Dozens of images of the Dark Mark had taken to the sky. Ron was about to speak when he was run into by no other than Draco Malfoy.

"Draco, what ---"

"We have to get out of here, quickly," Draco said, "Lord Voldemort is on his way and ----"

"There you guys are," Chris exclaimed casually, running up to them, "Madam Hooch has been in a frenzy looking for you! Come on! I have to get you to safety!"

Sirius placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, "You go with her. Be safe. Do not try to fight Voldemort yourself. Most of the Order is here. They will protect you."

Chris ran ahead of the bunch. They followed as quickly as possible.

"Was that Sirius Black," Draco asked as they ran."

"Yeah," Harry replied, "but don't tell anybody you saw him."

Chris led them out of the gates of the Pitch and into the woods behind it.

"Are you sure this is a good idea," Hermione called up to her as she tried to help Anistasia with Harry.

"Positive," she replied light heartedly.

Draco took out his wand, "Lumos."

"Nox," Anistasia said and the light at the end of Draco's wand went out, "Are you nuts Malfoy? Anyone will be able to find us if you do that!"

"Do you know where we are going, Chris," Ron asked.

"Of course I do, Weasley. Trust me."

Chris soon led them into a small clearing. The noise from the events at the Pitch could still be heard.

"Rest here for a moment. Then we will go on."

"No need to, my dear. I can take over from here," a bold voice hissed from behind the group.

The group turned and saw an un-hooded Voldemort standing behind them.

"Good work, daughter. You have done well."

"Thank you, father," Chris said and bowed.

"Father," Ron asked, "He is your father?"

"Don't act so surprised, Weasley," Chris said, "Didn't the name 'Riddle' ever ring a bell in your mind? Will, it doesn't matter now, does it?"

Voldemort grinned, "Weasley, eh? You father is a part of the Order, put together by Dumbledore to vanquish me and keep Harry from dying," he was silent for a moment as he pondered on this thought and then turned to Draco, "Draco Malfoy. I am finally meeting you. Your father is a loyal Death Eater to me. I hope that you are considering now following him in his footsteps," Draco looked up at him, but didn't say a word; Voldemort continued down the line and stood in front of Hermione, "Now, who are you?"

"Pudintane. Ask me again and I'll tell you the same."

Voldemort scowled, "Think you're cute, do you? Tell me who you are."

"John Brown. Ask me again and I'll knock you down."

"Feeling a bit brave in the face of danger, are we," Voldemort asked.

Hermione stood straight and tall, "Danger," she snickered, "I do not fear you."

"Are you afraid of dying, girl, because that is what is coming to you if you don't tell me your name."

"She isn't worth it, daddy," Chris said, "She is a mudblood."

"A mudblood? Well, why didn't you say so in the first place, Chris?"

Voldemort unshielded his wand and placed the tip over Hermione's heart. She didn't move. She didn't even wince.

"Any last words?"

Hermione didn't move a muscle.

"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort whispered.

"No," Ron screamed as he dived to free her from the path of the spell.

It was too late. Hermione was thrown back by the force of the spell and fell right into Ron's arms.

"Hermione," he whimpered as he held her.

Voldemort grinned in the face of Ron's sorrow and came upon Anistasia, "Surely you wont put up as much of a fight as your mudblood colleague did."

Anistasia was silent. She could feel Harry's eyes upon her, urging her to speak her name.

"Anistasia Willow," she spoke finally.

"Anistasia…I have heard of your parents. You live in the same house in Godric's Hollow as Harry did before I killed his parents."

"I did not know that," she said, "I believed that I lived in that house since birth and that it was built by my parents." 

"You believed wrong, didn't you?"

Anistasia nodded and Voldemort walked to Harry, "Harry Potter – man of the hour. My, my, my – look at you," Voldemort placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

Anistasia bent down beside him and cradled Harry as the pain from his scar jolted throughout his entire body.

"Oh, I forgot," Voldemort exclaimed as she aimed his wand at Harry, "Destilious medatophus!"

Harry relaxed as his scar stopped burning. 

"What did you just do," he asked. 

"I reversed the stinging effect of the spell," Voldemort explained, "You should be thanking me."

"For what?"

"For keeping you alive so you can learn the truth about your parents."

"What truth," Harry asked, "You didn't mean to keep me alive. You cast the killing curse on me, wanting to kill me!"

 "On the contrary, Harry. I didn't want to kill you like I did so many others. If you seriously think that you survived Avada Kedavra, you have another thing coming. Don't you think if you really survived it, there would be other survivors, just like you? No, I cast a different spell on you, giving you that scar and cast a similar spell on me, draining me of my powers so it would look like that you survived an extremely powerful spell – like you survived Avada Kedavra," Voldemort replied.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Harry, I am your father."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18 ~ The New Beginning

"You can't be," Harry exclaimed, "My mother married my father."

"Just because she was married to the man that you think is your father doesn't mean she couldn't have a bit of fun with me," Voldemort exclaimed.

"She wouldn't! She was in love with my father!"

"Oh, would you stop calling James Potter your father already? Only Dumbledore, Wormtail, your mother and I know the truth about you, Harry and I am going to tell it to you from the beginning.

"It all started when I was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron under a different identity. Lilly walked in late that night on her way home from Diagon Alley where she had been shopping all day. I was quite taken by her. The air of her, her looks – you can say that I fell in love that night.

"'Mind if a lonely soul takes a seat,' I asked, flashing her an innocent smile.

"She looked up at me and smiled back, 'Join the club.'

"I looked at her, surprised, 'Now, how could a beautiful woman like you be lonely?'

"I turned out that she had a fight with James earlier that day and had gone to Diagon Alley to get away from it all. We did a bit of talking. I told her that my name was Marvolo Gromwell. A few hours and several drinks later, she said that she needed to go home. She was rather intoxicated by that point.

"'I cant let you do that in this state, my dear,' I said to her, 'The Dark Lord is out there. You could be killed.'

"After a bit of persuading, she got a room upstairs. I walked her up to her room and placed her stuff beside her bed. In a matter of no time at all, I had seduced her.

"Since that night, I had kept a close eye on her. I found out everything I could about her. Little did I know, that if I had gotten her pregnant that night, you would be a prophecy. The true Heir of Slytherin, the true Heir to my throne. She didn't know this and I didn't want to believe it when I read it, but Lilly was of Salazar Slytherin heritage and the Heiress to Salazar's throne. I knew that with my power and our heritage, the outcome would be great."

"My mother was in Gryffindor," Harry managed to say as he still sat there on the ground.

"Yes, but like you, she asked to be put in that house. She didn't want to surrender to the fact that her destiny lied in Slytherin.

"Soon, you were born. You looked a lot like James, but had Lilly's green eyes. If you didn't know, James and I looked fairly similar when we went to Hogwarts. Different generations, yes, but we still looked the same. I don't know if you realized this, but you look more like young, schoolboy Tom Riddle than you do James Potter. You have a lot of my personality traits as well, including Parseltongue, which you did not inherit when I hit you with that spell…you have had that since you were born.

"It took me over a year, but I finally decided to go to Godric's Hollow and claim you. It was a shame that Lilly told Dumbledore about you and forced him to put you into hiding. It was wonderful that James trusted Pettigrew with his secret. Wormtail told me where your mum was hiding and I went there.

"I walked up to the front window of the house. I could hear Lilly and James arguing. No doubt, she had just broken the news to him. I unlocked the door and walked in. 

"'It seems as tough this might be a bad time to claim what is mine,' I said.

"James boldly stood up to me as Lilly ran up to your room to fetch you and make a run for it. Once I had killed James, I went up to the room.

"'It is no use now, Lilly,' I warned, 'The three of us together can rule. You, me and our son, Harry Riddle.'

"'No,' she exclaimed, holding you close, 'I told you time and time again that I wont hand him over! You will have to kill me first, but please, not Harry!'

"'Silly girl, step aside! Let me have the boy!'

"'No,' she screamed.

"I killed her right then. It was a mistake. I saw you sitting on the floor of your nursery and realized that I wouldn't be able to care for you. Therefore, I left you, but not before I left my mark. I knew that I had been defeated until I could claim you again.

"Here we are now, Harry, face to face, once again. Will you join your father and your sister? Join your Death Eaters? Join your true family and claim your throne?"

Harry looked up at Voldemort. He was quivering. The information that he had just received was unbelievable. Everything fit together so perfectly. However, was it too perfectly? At this point in his life, the only thing he had that was truly noble to him was Anistasia. He looked up at Anistasia, who was still holding him in her arms.

"Will you come with me," he asked. 

Anistasia's face scrunched up in a confused look, "What kind of dumb question is that? Of course I'll come with you, no matter what path you chose."

_No matter what path you chose_…the words rang in Harry's head for a moment and he realized that this was the destiny meant for the both of them.

"Lord Voldemort, I will join your side under one condition – you have to take Anistasia as well, for she is my love and I will not leave her behind," Harry said.

"Very well, then," Voldemort exclaimed, "Step up here, the both of you."

"What are you doing," Ron exclaimed as they picked themselves up from the ground and approached Voldemort.

"I am joining my family, Ron. The only family I have left."

"He isn't your family! He is lying to you! Don't you see, Harry? He just wants you for your power."

"Then so be it. I have made my decision and I am not turning back on it," Harry replied.

Voldemort's slit for a mouth twisted into a wry smile, "Roll up the left sleeve of your robes, boy."

Harry did as he was told and Voldemort placed the tip of his wand above Harry's elbow. In Parseltongue, he breathed, "Morsmordre." The Dark Mark, a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, was shining vivid red upon Harry's skin. Harry winced a bit at the pain of the mark burning into his skin. Once the mark cooled off and turned black, Harry ran his hand across it, smiling.

"How do you feel, son," Voldemort asked.

Harry looked up, "Wonderful."

Voldemort laughed evilly and exclaimed, "Welcome to the Dark side. Your loyalty to us will be more than rewarded."

A pack of Death Eaters entered the clearing as though they were summoned by the addition of the new member. Voldemort turned to them.

"Lower your hoods, take off your masks and bow to the heir of my throne," he ordered.

They did as they were told. Harry looked around at them. Everyone that witnessed Voldemort's rebirth was there: Malfoy, Avery, Crabe…all of them.

"Now I will bring into our circle another young member who will become our queen, soon enough. Willow, step forward and roll up the sleeve of your robes."

"Yes, Lord," she replied as she did what Harry had done before.

"Morsmordre," Voldemort said in Parseltongue for the second time that night.

The Dark Mark burned a vivid red color on Anistasia's skin. She fell to her knees as, for the first time, she felt the power of Lord Voldemort surge through her body. Harry knelt beside her as she had done when he felt pain.

"Anistasia, are you okay?"

Anistasia's green eyes flashed red as she looked up at Harry, "I feel better than okay. I feel powerful…"

"Welcome, princess, to your kingdom. We do not rule now, but one day, we will. Mark my words, we will," Harry assured her, "In Madam Hooch's words, we are an unstoppable pair, on and off the Quidditch field."

Anistasia smiled and Harry helped her up as Voldemort called on his next Death Eater.

"Malfoy, step forward. Join your father and become the great Death Eater you were destined to be," Voldemort ordered, "Like father, like son."

Draco stepped forward. Lucius looked up. The reflection of his son walking up to Voldemort could be seen in his gray eyes. Draco handed his left arm to Voldemort and he made the same hissing noise that he had two times earlier. The Dark Mark, for the third time that night, shone red upon a new Death Eater's arm. Once the mark cooled, Lucius spoke.

"You make me proud, son," he said quietly.

Draco joined the circle beside his father and Voldemort turned to Ron who was still holding onto Hermione's cold, lifeless body.

"Weasley, are you going to join your friends," Voldemort hissed.

"No," Ron replied as he looked up to Voldemort with a tear stained face, "I refuse to join your side and serve in something I don't believe in."

"Have it your way, then," Voldemort said, "Harry, give me your wand."

Harry did as his father said, without question and, in return, Voldemort gave Harry his wand, "Your first duty as Death Eater is to kill him."

Ron stood and looked into Harry's cold, green eyes, "Harry, you wouldn't."

"You should have joined us, Ron. There is a future here for you. I could get you and your family riches – your father would never have to struggle at the Ministry again," Harry informed him, "Just say the word."

"That is not you talking, Harry. The Harry I know vowed that he would never join Voldemort. He fights for what is right and good -----"

"Obviously you knew a different Harry."

"Obviously, I did," Ron replied.

Harry lifted his wand, "I hope you believe you made the right choice."

"Harry, I am your best friend," Ron yelled, "What are you doing? You are letting Voldemort control you. Listen, this is wrong!"

"If this is so wrong, why does it feel so right," Harry asked.

"Enough with the talk," Voldemort said, "You have let him live long enough. Finish your duty!"

"Harry, please…"

"Avada Kedavra," Harry said.

Harry felt a power go through him that he had never before as the wand emitted a green light. In an instant, Ron was dead. As Harry lowered the wand, Voldemort placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I am pleased, son."

Harry and Voldemort traded wands and Voldemort spoke to the three new Death Eaters.

"Go back to Hogwarts. I will see you in the summer. Tell no one about your new loyalties. Put on your most grave face and take these two back to Dumbledore. Make up a story. You know how to act innocent still, I hope. You will need that to get through the last years of your schooling. Chris, lead your brother and new Death Eaters back to the Pitch. I will see you sooner than you think."

Chris cast a levitating spell on the bodies of Ron and Hermione as Harry, Ani and Draco followed her back to the Pitch. The four of them made sure that they crying so they could put on their little act for anyone who saw them. They walked out of the woods and started up to the Pitch. As was expected, there was no more Death eaters, no more screaming and no more chaos. All was quiet except for the occasional sounds of sobbing. The Pitch looked like a battlefield, though less bloody. There were dead bodies lying everywhere and people mourning over them. 

"Ms. Riddle," Professor wall asked as she ran up to them, "Mr. Potter? What happened? Where have you all been?"

"I led them into the woods, hoping to find safety from the events in the Pitch," Chris explained, "The locker room entrance was blocked and we had to get away from the Death Eaters quickly. Ron and Hermione fell behind and were separated from the rest of us. We called for them, trying to find then. When we finally did, it was too late. They had been killed."

Professor Wall looked at the bodies and nodded. She led the group to the school and to the infirmary. There were several more people there. Some injured, some on the brink of death and some lifeless and cold. Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore were in the room and walked over to the group when they saw them walk in. 

"You all gave us quite a scare," McGonagall exclaimed, "Are you all okay?"

"Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger," Headmaster Dumbledore mumbled, "They were fine Gryffindors – true spirits of Hogwarts."

For the first time, Professor McGonagall noticed the two levitating bodies. She began to weep. Dumbledore put and arm around her shoulder. 

"There, there, Minerva."

The two bodies were put into empty beds and a white sheet placed over them. Professor Wall went to get the Weasleys and Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"Harry, may I see you over here for a moment?"

Harry walked with Dumbledore to another part of the room and Dumbledore explained, "Harry, I am afraid I have some bad news. Sirius was caught in his attempts to kill off some of the Death Eaters. He will be given the Dementor's Kiss at dawn."

Silent tears streamed down Harry's face as he walked back to Anistasia. He told her what happened and she embraced him.

"I trust that none of you have been harmed," Dumbledore said to the rest of them.

"No, sir," Draco replied.

Dumbledore nodded, "We will be leaving for Hogwarts in the morning. The rest of the tournament has been canceled."

The four of them began to go to the dormitories, but Harry and Anistasia walked out onto the courtyard and sat on a bench. The talked and held each other as they watched the sun come up, blood red in the sky and mourned for Sirius.

  


It was the last day of school. The attack on Hogwarts by the giants never happened. It was a hoax, thought up by Voldemort and followed through by Lucius Malfoy to keep Dumbledore from being at South Gravewitch. All of the exams had been finished the day before and today was a day of remembrance. Anistasia and Harry were walking out of Gryffindor Tower when Godric walked up to them.

"Harry," Godric said, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you before the ceremony."

Harry nodded, kissed Anistasia and followed Gryffindor to Albus' office. Harry and Godric reached the oak door to Dumbledore's office as the stone gargoyle noisily slid back into place. Godric opened the door to the office and Harry walked in first. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, obviously waiting for Harry. Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed his through his half-moon glasses.

"It is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything."

Harry sat down in a chair in front of the desk and Godric sat in a chair beside him. There was a moment of almost deafening silence before the headmaster began.

"There is so much that I have to tell you – so much you have to know…I don't know where I should begin. However, I must tell you that Mr. Christian Whitford is not who you think he is. The man sitting beside you is Godric Gryffindor, one of the Hogwarts Four."

Harry blinked and looked at Gryffindor, "You created this school over a thousand years ago?"

Godric nodded, "Mr. Potter, yes, I did help create this school. For the past nine hundred plus years, I have been Fawkes, the phoenix. I created the Order of the Phoenix, which is a group of twelve wizards sworn to protect the world from Lord Voldemort."

Harry, who knew all of this, just nodded and allowed Gryffindor and Dumbledore to tell their story.

"Now, Harry," the Headmaster began, "I must tell you about your mother and father. You must understand and know what they were like prior to their death and why, you, Harry, are very special.

"It all begins in 1961, the first year your parents attended Hogwarts. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Lilly Evans became instant friends and were all sorted into Gryffindor. However, the Sorting Hat wanted to put Lilly into Slytherin. Do you have any idea why, Mr. Potter?"

Harry stared unblinkingly at Dumbledore, "She was the heiress of Slytherin, as Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin. They were the king and queen of Salazar's throne."

"How do you know this," Gryffindor demanded.

Harry failed to reply. His right hand unconsciously found its way to his left upper arm and sat atop the Dark Mark, hidden by his robes. Dumbledore, needing no explanation, continued.

"You are absolutely correct, Harry," he said, "Though, that will come of importance once we cover a few more things. Lilly spent her Hogwarts career attached to James by super glue – I witnessed this binding on several occasions myself – and in their fifth year, James asked Lilly to marry him. Of course, she accepted, and they were married not a week after they graduated from here.

"They found a house in Godric's Hollow and settled there. One afternoon, the two of them had a fight. As Lilly told me, she went to Diagon Alley to get some shopping done. That night, she stopped in the Leaky Cauldron on her way home. A man walked up to her and introduced himself as Marvolo Gromwell. Lilly wasn't stupid – she knew from the beginning that he was Lord Voldemort, however, she didn't tell him she knew that. After the two of them had talked and had a few drinks, he urged her to get a room at the Leaky Cauldron. He took her up to her room and…and they made love. Lilly did it out of anger towards James – Voldemort did it for a heir."

Harry sat back. Voldemort told him this before. Why was he sitting through it again? Dumbledore saw that there was no expression on Harry's face, so he continued.

"You were born nine months later. James believed that you were his son, but Lilly knew differently. As the months went on, Lilly saw that you were a prophecy. The Prince of Slytherin – the result of the king and queen. She prayed that your real father would not come to claim you; that he had forgotten about that night in the Leaky Cauldron and that James would not have to find out the terrible truth. However, Voldemort confronted her in Diagon Alley, one day in early October of 1981. He told her that she was destined to join him with their son. He assured her that they would rule the earth. Lilly hastily declined and Voldemort promised that he would not fail to get his son.

"That is when she came to me and I called James in. Lilly told him everything. He wasn't pleased, though he still loved her and you. I hid them and Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper. However, he turned them in to Voldemort on October 31. The rest, you have heard several times, and there is no point in repeating it."

Harry nodded, "So…Voldemort is my father and I am the Prince of Slytherin. James Potter isn't my father and Voldemort wants me to help him take over the world? He never wanted to kill me?"

"Yes, Harry. All of that is true," the headmaster replied.

Harry bowed his head and acted innocently – like this was s hock to him. Inside, however, he was grinning.  

The school sat in the Great Hall which was decked out in Gryffindor flags as oppose to Slytherin, who won the house cup. They had all agreed that this was appropriate and decorated the hall accordingly. In front of the Head Table there were two reefs of red and gold roses, a picture of Ron in the middle of one and Hermione in the other. Headmaster Dumbledore stood at the head of the hall and cleared his throat.

"Over a month ago, Hogwarts lost two students: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, to the mercy of Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort."

He continued to talk and Harry gazed at the picture of Ron. He was Harry's first true friend and he had killed him. He hugged Anistasia tighter, who was silently crying, listening to Dumbledore's wise words.

"At this time, I would like to as Mr. Potter to come up. He knew the two of them since their first day at Hogwarts and you could hardly ever catch this trio parted. Please, put your hands together, respectfully, for Harry Potter."

Harry's stomach lurched as he stood, holding the roll of parchment that had his speech printed on it. He had spent all night trying to get it together. Harry made his way to the front and faced his classmates.

"Ron and Hermione were truly wonderful friends. Through the past five years we have been through good times and bad, fights and celebrations, making trouble and preventing trouble," Harry began,

"Ron Weasley wasn't much of an adventurer, but he followed me wherever I needed him, no matter how stupid my plans were. He wasn't outgoing and kept to himself a lot, but could he ever play a mean game of Wizard's Chess! He was unstoppable at this game and found it to be his biggest talent. With five older brothers that were unique and in the spotlight at several points in their lives, Ron looked up to them and tried to live up to those standards. He wanted to be known for something great like his brothers, something that his parents could be proud of. Whether he realized it or not, his parents were proud of him. He was a great wizard and a loyal friend. 

"Hermione was the brain of the trio. She knew her magic well. If either Ron or I needed to know something, we went to her and she would know it. If she didn't know it, she knew just where to find it and would hurry off the library. She helped me with my Summoning Charm when I needed to use it for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament last year. 

"They were both true companions to me. If it wasn't for them, I would, truthfully, be dead myself right now and this school would have been blown to pieces. On the night before their deaths, they confessed their love for each other in the highest room in the East Tower of South Gravewitch School of Magic. They were meant to be together.

"Through their deaths, I am not alone. This year, Anistasia Willow came to Hogwarts and joined our group. She fit in perfectly. I never got a moments peace from then on, but it is fine with me. She is a true companion. This might seem a bit off subject and out of place right now, but I cannot keep quiet any longer. Anistasia and I are engaged. We don't know when we are going to officially tie the knot, but it will be after we finish our schooling here at Hogwarts. Thank you for listening and may Ronald and Hermione rest in peace."

Harry walked to the Gryffindor table and took his seat again beside Anistasia. Fred and George patted him on the back and Ginny gave him a kiss on the cheek. Professor Willow looked stunned. It was obvious that Anistasia hadn't broken the news to her mother yet. Dumbledore took the floor once again.

"That was a wonderful bit of news," Dumbledore exclaimed, "Congratulations to the both of you. At this time ----"

Headmaster, if I could interrupt you for just a moment," Professor Snape began and all eyes turned on him, "I would like, at this time, to get something off of my chest."

He stood, pulled something out of the pocket of his robes and kneeled on one knee beside Professor Wall. 

"Lauren wall, will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage," he asked her.

Tears began streaming down Professor Wall's face. She managed to nod as Professor Snape slipped a ring on her finger. The Hall burst into applause. Dumbledore soon quieted them. 

"If everyone at this time would raise their goblets, I would like to make a toast to Ron and Hermione: may they rest in peace, and to our new fiancés, Lauren and Severus Snape and Anistasia and Harry Potter!"

The hall drank to that has Harry whispered for only Anistasia to hear:

"To the new beginning."


End file.
